HISTORY 

AND 

GOVERNMENT 
OF NEW MEXICO 



JOHN H.VAUGHAN 





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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT 
OF NEW MEXICO 



BY 



JOHN H. VAUGHAN, A.M. 

DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF GENERAL SCIENCE AND 
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND ECONOMICS 
NEW MEXICO COLLEGE OF AGRICUL- 
TURE AND MECHANIC ARTS 



PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR 

STATE COLLEGE, NEW MEXICO 

192 1 



OTHER WORKS BY THE SAME 
AUTHOR 

1. A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE 

ARCHIEVES OF NEW MEXICO. 

Reprinted from the Annual Report of 
the American Historical Association 
for 1909. Octavo, heavy paper, uncut, 
25 pp., $0.50. 

2. HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN NEW 

MEXICO. In Preparation. A hook 
designed to give a general view of 
the origin and development of edu- 
cation in New Mexico. A brief 
sketch of the Spanish and European 
background and the educational be- 
ginnings of the Spanish Southwest, 
followed by an account of the edu- 
cational development of the colony 
under Spain and Mexico, lays the 
foundation for a more extended study 
of the movement for public educa- 
tion in the Territory from 1851 to 
1891 and of the development of the 
public school system and higher edu- 
cational institutions since 1891. 



JCT 31 1921 



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Copyright 192 1 
By JOHN H. VAUGHAN 



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PREFACE 

This book represents an effort to organize the almost four cen- 
turies of New Mexican history into one continuous narrative at 
once brief, readable, and reliable; and to present it in such form 
and language as to bring it within the grasp of boys and girls in 
our public schools. The General Readings and Special Topics that 
follow each chapter will furnish the guidance necessary for more 
mature students in the high schools and normal schools. It marks 
an advance over previous books in the same field in three important 
respects : 

1. The story of the State has been lifted out of the class of 
local chronicles and treated on the large plane of American history, 
portraying the development of New Mexico from the earliest times 
to the present day, not in isolation, but as a part of the history 
of the great Southwest and in its true relation to the whole of 
North America. 

2. The results of historical and scientific research in the history 
of the Southwest during recent years have been taken into full 
account, not as footnotes to pages of doubtful text, but as part 
of the warp and woof of the narrative itself. If, therefore, the 
work differs at many points from current traditions preserved in 
local chronicles, the reader will not need to infer that the writer 
was unaware of those traditions. 

3. The period since the Civil War has been organized and 
brought into proper perspective so that the big events in the de- 
v- 1 opment of the Territory and the beginnings of the State may 
be not only known but understood. 

This method of treatment has necessitated the exclusion of many 
interesting episodes and dramatic scenes as well as descriptions 
of numerous places and objects of great human interest, because, 
however interesting in themselves, they have had little direct bear- 
ing on the historic development of the State. 

Space does not permit mentioning even the names of all who 
have generously assisted me. Yet I cannot deny myself the pleasure 
of acknowledging my indebtedness to my distinguished friend and 
teacher, Professor Herbert E. Bolton, of the University of Cali- 



PREFACE 

fornia; to Dr. Charles W. Hackett, of the University of Texas; 
to Professor Aurelio M. Espinosa, of Leland Stanford University; 
to Professors Roscoe R. Hill and Charles F. Coan, of the University 
of New Mexico ; and to Mr. Lansing B. Bloom, of the school of 
American Research, whose knowledge of the Southwest has been 
constantly at my disposal. Chief Justice Clarence J. Roberts, of 
the State Supreme Court, and Vice President Charles E. Hodgin, 
of the University of New Mexico, have read the section on Govern- 
ment and corrected many errors. My colleagues, Professors Alva 
P. Taylor and Merritt L. Hoblit and Mr. Clarence P. Wilson, of 
the State Agricultural College, have given valuable assistance in 
putting the manuscript into final shape and reading the proof. My 
wife has been the ever-present counselor through the years of 
preparation. 

Though their counsel and advice have saved my feet from 
unmerous pitfalls in every part of the work, they are not responsible 
for any of the imperfections and errors that remain in the text. 
These are my own; and any teacher, pupil, or other reader who 
discovers an error and brings it to my attention for correction in 
a later edition will receive my sincere thanks. 

John H. Vaughan 
State College, New Mexico 
August, 1921 



CONTENTS 

PART I 
THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I The Land and the People ...... 3 

17 
26 

44 
55 

67 
80 
101 
128 
144 
155 

169 
188 
213 

235 



II The Coming of the White Man . 

III Exploration and Conquest, i 540-1 595 . 

IV Permanent Settlement, 1 598-1 609 
V Expansion and Overthrow, i 609-1 680 . 

VI Reconquest and Northeastern Expansion, 1680- 

1762 • 

VII The Close of the Spanish Era, i 762-1821 . 

VIII The Mexican Period, 182 2-1 846 . 

IX The American Occupation .... 

X Provisional Government, 1 846-1851 

XI Beginnings of the Territory, 1851-1861 

XII The Civil War and the Settlement of the Indian 
Problem ....... 

XIII Railroads and Economic Development 

XIV Educational Development since 1850 . 
XV The Beginnings of Statehood 

PART II 

THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

XVI The State Constitution and Government . .261 

XVII Civil and Political Rights 267 

XVIII Nominations and Elections 273 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XIX The State Legislature 281 

XX The State Executive Department ... 296 

XXI The Courts of the State 307 

XXII The Public School System . . . . . 319 

XXIII County Government 330 

XXIV Cities, Towns, and Villages ..... 338 
XXV Penal and Charitable Institutions • . 345 



MAPS 

PAGE 

New Mexican Pueblos To-day 11 

Southwestern Explorations, 1527-1598 20 

Ofiate's Explorations, 1598-1609 46 

Benavides's Proposed Route to Santa Fe 59 

Trade and Expansion in the Seventeenth Century ... 60 

The Coming of the French 73 

Exploration and Expansion in the Eighteenth Century . . 82 

First Quarter of the Nineteenth Century 88 

Spanish Settlements, 1760 96 

Famous Southwestern Trails . . . 108v 

The Seven Counties of New Mexico, 1846 .... 124 

Theater of the Mexican War . . . . ... 131 

New Mexico as Bounded by the "State" Constitution of 1850 . 150 
The First Division of the Territory of New Mexico into 

Counties, 1851-1852 157 

Civil War Operations in New Mexico, 1861-1862 . . . 170 

Judicial Districts 311 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The Palace of the Governors at Santa Fe 2 

Prehistoric Ruins at Aztec 6 

Cliff Dwellings in the Frijoles Canyon 7 

A Kiva at Isleta .......... 9 

A Navajo Hogan 14 

North Wing of the Aztec Ruin 15 

Hernando Cortes . . . 18 

The Terraces of Zufii 23 

Cc-onado Captures Zufii > . 27 

Prehistoric Pictographs 36 

Basket Dance, San Ildefonso . . . ... .40 

Old San Miguel Church, Santa Fe . . . . . .56 

Spanish Mission Church at Acoma, Begun about 1630 . . 57 

San Juan Pueblo To-day 63 

The Coat of Arms of Governor De Vargas .... 67 

Primitive Mining 84 

Old Spanish Fort at the Santa Rita Copper Mine ... 86 

Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike . .90 

The North Pueblo of Taos To-day 94 

A Pathfinder of Civilization 102 

Ceran St. Vrain 103 

Bent's Fort on the Arkansas 105 

Bent's Fort, a Restoration 106 

The Grave of Kit Carson at Taos 110 

Governor Manuel Armijo 112 

A Caravan Entering Santa Fe 115 

A Pack Train 119 

Spanish and Mexican Carts 120 

A Santa Fe Street Scene in the Forties 123 

President James K. Polk, 1845-1849 129 

General Stephen W. Kearny 133 

Kearny's Army on the March 134 

General Kearny Addressing the People at Las Vegas . 135 

v 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

General Kearny Addressing the People in Santa Fe, August 

19, 1846 136 

Donaciano Vigil 138 

Governor Charles Bent 144 

A Modern Taos Type ...-.....'. 145 

Colonel Sterling Price 147 

The Overland Stage Crossing a Mountain Pass . . . 153 

Governor James S. Calhoun 156 

Fort Bliss in the Fifties 158 

Fort Defiance in the Fifties 160 

Indians Attacking the Overland Stage 165 

Colonel John R. Baylor 171 

Colonel E. R. S. Canby 172 

Fort Union in the Fifties 173 

Civil War Cannon Buried at Albuquerque by the Confederates 175 
American Indian Fighters on the Desert Quenching Their 

Thirst with Blood from Their Own Veins . . . .177 

Geronimo .178 

Kit Carson Monument, Santa Fe 179 

On the Trail of Geronimo 181 

General George H. Crook 182 

The Old Chisum Ranch near Roswell 185 

Cattle Seeking Water 190 

Crossing Raton Mountains by the Swith-back Before Digging 

the Tunnel 191 

Herd of Buffalo Stopping a Train 192 

Rambouillets on the Range 195 

John S. Chisum, "Cattle King" 196 

The "Rocker" in a Mining Camp 199 

Modern Steam Shovel Operations, Santa Rita Coppe/ Mines . 201 

Apple Orchard in Bloom, Pecos Valley 203 

Flowing Artesian Well in the Pecos Valley .... 205 

The Elephant Butte Dam 208 

Harvest Time in the Pecos Valley 209 

St. Michael's College, Santa Fe 214 

First Protestant Church in New Mexico, Santa Fe, Built by 

Baptists, 1853 215 

Spanish-American Normal School 218 

Hiram Hadley, Pioneer Educator 220 

New Mexico Normal School, Silver City 221 

Main Building, New Mexico Normal University ... 223 

vi 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

A Campus View, New Mexico College of Agriculture and 

Mechanic Arts 227 

Views of the University of New Mexico 229 

Administration Building, New Mexico School of Mines . . 230 

New Mexico Military Institute 231 

General Nelson A. Miles 238 

Herefords on the Range To-day ....... 240 

Governor William C. McDonald 243 

Villa Bandits in the State Penitentiary 247 

Governor E. C. DeBaca 248 

Governor W. E. Lindsey 250 

Colonel E. C. Abbott 251 

Colonel Charles M. de Bremond 252 

Major Joseph Quesenberry 253 

Governor O. A. Larrazolo 254 

Governor Merritt C. Mechem 255 

The State Capitol, Santa Fe 260 

Consolidated Rural School in Curry County 321 

Chaves County Court House 331 



PART I 

THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 







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CHAPTER I 
THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 

I. THE LAND 

.1. Location and Size. — New Mexico is situated at the 
south end of the Rocky Mountain Division of States, be- 
tween the parallels 31 20' and 37 north latitude, and the 
meridians 103 and 109 west longitude. Its average 
width from east to west is 335 miles; its extreme length 
from north to south, 390 miles; and its total area, 1.22,634 
square miles. It is the fourth State in size among the forty- 
eight. If the six New England States and New Jersey, 
Delaware, and Pennsylvania were spread out on its sur- 
face, there would still be 790 square miles of ground un- 
covered. 

2. Principal Geographic Features. — The whole State 
lies in the high plateau region of the southern Rocky Moun- 
tains on the backbone of the continent, and sends its 
waters part to the Gulf of Mexico and part to the Pacific 
Ocean. This great mountain ridge varies in altitude from 
13,000 feet in the Sangre de Cristo (san'gra da kres'to) 
Range in the north to 4,000 feet in the south, with numer- 
ous irregular, outlying ranges. The White Mountains rise 
to almost 14,000 feet. 

The State falls naturally into three distinct regions : the 
great western plateau, the narrow valley of the Rio Grande 
(re'6 gran'da), and the broad eastern plain. The altitude 
of most of the northern and western part ranges from 

3 



4 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

6,000 to 8,000 feet, that of the southeastern falls as low as 
3,000, and the average for the whole State is about 5,000 
feet. Its waters fall into three great drainage basins. 
The northeastern portion is tributary to the Mississippi 
through the Arkansas, Canadian, and Red rivers ; the 
central and southeastern portion sends its waters to the 
Gulf of Mexico through the Rio Grande and its chief tribu- 
tary, the Pecos (pa/kos) ; and the western portion, lying in 
the Colorado (ko-lo-ra/tho) River basin of the Pacific 
slope, is drained by the San Juan (san hwan), Little Colo- 
rado, and Gila (he'la) rivers. Of all these streams the Rio 
Grande is the most important. Flowing through the 
whole length of the State from north to south, it includes 
within its drainage basin the homes of nearly half the 
people of the State. Without its waters the fertile valleys 
of central New Mexico would be parts of the desert. 

3. Climate. — Although the State lies in the same lati- 
tude as the Carolinas, Tennessee, and northern Georgia, 
Alabama, and Mississippi, its high altitude and dry air 
give complete relief from the disagreeable effects of extreme 
heat and humidity. The prevailing winds from the Pacific 
lose most of their moisture while coming across the high 
mountains farther to the west. Only the occasional winds 
from the Gulf of Mexico bring much rain, and the average 
annual rainfall of the State is barely fifteen inches. On 
some of the plains country it is as low as six or seven inches. 
In a few mountain sections of the north and west it runs 
as high as twenty-five or thirty inches. The skies are 
clear, sunshine is abundant, and, except in the high, moun- 
tain regions, heavy snows are almost unknown. The 
result is a pure, dry atmosphere, warm in the sun in winter 
and cool in the shade in summer, in which evaporation 



THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 5 

goes on rapidly, bodily comfort is at the maximum, and 
conditions for human health and development are as good 
as can be found- anywhere in the world. 

4. Influence of Geography on History. — These geo- 
graphic and climatic conditions have greatly influenced 
the State's history. The valley of the Rio Grande, walled 
in by high mountains on the east and west, was the natural 
highway for people coming from the south. Up this valley 
came the Spanish conquerors and colonizers of the State. 
In later centuries French and American pioneers from the 
Mississippi Valley were led into the northeastern region 
by the Arkansas, the Canadian, and the Red. Apache 
(a-pa/cha) Canyon opened the gates of the Rockies and 
allowed them to enter the region of Santa Fe (san'ta fa/). 
Later still the Gila and San Juan valleys pointed the way 
through the western mountains to the Pacific coast. 

In like manner the slight rainfall limited the Spanish 
colonization of New Mexico to a narrow ribbon of settle- 
ments along the river valleys where there was flowing 
water for irrigation ; while millions of acres of arid plains 
for grazing purposes made stock raising the principal 
industry. New Mexico was the greatest sheep raising 
province in the Mexican Republic. 

II. THE 'PEOPLE 

5. The Pueblo Indians. — The term "Pueblo" 
(pweb'16), the Spanish word for village, was applied by 
the Spaniards to all of the tribes living in stone or adobe 
(a-tho'ba) houses grouped together in compact, permanent 
villages, to distinguish them from the Indians of the plains, 
who had no fixed habitations. The Pueblos occupied the 
country from northeastern Arizona east to the Pecos River, 



6 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

and from Taos (ta/os) in the north to just below modern 
El Paso, and numbered probably 25,000 people living in 
sixty or seventy villages at the time the Spaniards first 
came to New Mexico. Their ancestors, the Cliff Dwellers, 
had occupied parts of a much larger area, extending farther 
north and south, and west to the Colorado River ; and had 
built their houses in great canyon walls or almost inacces- 
sible cliffs of rock, where they could more easily defend 
them against savage enemies. 

But the Pueblos of historic times usually built their 
communal houses, also called " pueblos," in the river 




Prehistoric Ruins at Aztec 



valleys or on top of high mesas (ma'sa). These pueblos 
contained many small rooms grouped together in irregular 
fashion, sometimes in a solid square, sometimes in a hollow 
square, and in numerous other irregular outlines. They 
were usually several stories high, each story being smaller 
than the one below. There were no outside doors. The 
entrance was by means of ladders and trapdoors in the 
top of the rooms of each story. When these ladders were 
drawn up from the ground, the pueblo became a fortress 



THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 




Courtesy of the School of American Research 



Cliff Dwellings in the Frijoles Canyon 



8 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

against the attack of marauding enemies, and was impreg- 
nable until the Spaniards came with artillery. Since the 
American Occupation the danger has passed, and many 
pueblos now have doors opening on the ground floor. 

In the high northwestern region where sandstone was 
abundant the houses were commonly built of that material, 
and in the lower valley regions adobe, or sun-dried brick, 
was used. But whatever the material, the work of building 
these wonderful " cities " was done chiefly by the women, 
with help from the men only in quarrying stone or bringing 
and putting into place the heavy beams used in making 
the roof. And all of the work was done by the hands of 
men and women, for the Pueblos had no horses or other 
beasts of burden until the Spaniards brought them in the 
sixteenth century. 

Many of these massive structures have been destroyed 
by the ravages of time and by the Pueblos' wild Apache, 
Navajo (na/va-ho), Ute, and Comanche enemies, or aban- 
doned for fear of these enemies. Acoma (a/ko-ma), the 
Sky City, " the strangest and strongest that there can be 
in the world," on its tall perpendicular cliff in Valencia 
County, is believed to be the only pueblo inhabited to-day 
that was standing when Coronado (ko-ro-na/tho) and 
Onate (6-nya/ta) came to New Mexico The others, in the 
intervening centuries, have been rebuilt, some of them 
several times and even on different locations. 

6. The Kiva. — In the courtyard or elsewhere near each 
pueblo were the kivas (ke'va), one for each clan. These 
kivas, called estufas (es-too'fa) by the Spaniards, were 
ceremonial chambers, round or square, generally under- 
ground, entered by ladders through a trapdoor in the top, 
and heated in very cold weather by a fire built in a pit in 



THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 9 

the center of the floor. The kiva was the center of the 
life of the clan. In it the men assembled to discuss war 
and peace, to engage in religious rites, and to prepare for 
the great pagan festivals and other ceremonial occasions. 
Into it no woman was allowed to enter, and in it ceremonies 
are still performed which no white man has ever witnessed. 




A Kiva at Isleta 



Though the houses belong to the women, the kivas belong- 
to the men. 

7. Pueblo Industries. — The chief manufactures carried 
on by the Pueblos at the time the Spaniards came were 
basket making, pottery, the dressing of skins, the weaving 
of cotton for their rude clothing, and the making of weapons. 
They made shields and bucklers of buffalo hide and used 
strong bows with flint-pointed arrows that would pierce a 
Spaniard's coat of mail. Their clothing was almost wholly 



IO THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

of deer skin and coarse cotton cloth, though they began to 
use wool for making clothing and blankets soon after the 
Spaniards brought sheep to the country. They were fond 
of wearing ornamental jewelry and trinkets, particularly 
turquoise necklaces and earrings. 

In the valleys near their villages they carried on inten- 
sive agriculture or horticulture with regular systems of 
irrigation from flowing streams or reservoirs. In the 
southern valleys this work was done on a considerable 
scale. The chief crop was corn, the mainstay of Indian 
life. Cotton, pumpkins, melons, beans, chile (che'la), and 
onions were grown, though in smaller quantities. Wheat, 
peaches, and apples were unknown. 

Part of their living came from the chase. Deer, ante- 
lope, and mountain lion were abundant, and buffalo could 
be had in the eastern sections. Turkeys in great numbers 
seem to have been domesticated and herded like sheep, 
though the Pueblos had no sheep, cattle, or horses. The 
dog was their only domestic animal. 

8. Social and Religious Customs. — The social life of 
the Pueblos is simple, yet curiously interesting. The men 
cultivate the fields, spin, weave, knit, and make clothing. 
The women bring up the children, carry the water, grind 
the meal, prepare the food, and make the pottery. Mar- 
riage is arranged by the bride's parents and the priests of 
the, clans. In 1565 Castaneda (kas-ta-nya/tha) wrote: 
" When any man wishes to marry . . . [he] has to spin and 
weave a blanket and place it before the woman, who 
covers herself with it and becomes his wife." The husband 
then goes to live with his wife, becomes a member of her 
clan, lives in her house, and their children belong to her 
clan and take her name, not his. Only the wife has the 



THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 



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1 2 THE HISTORY OF^ NEW MEXICO 

right of divorce, which she may exercise for very slight 
reasons, dismissing the husband from her house and clan 
and sending him back to live with his own people. In that 
case either may marry again. 

Although the Pueblos readily accepted the outward 
forms and ceremonies of Catholic Christianity, they are to 
this day stanchly pagan at heart and still cling to their 
ancient beliefs and ceremonies. Each tribe is divided into a 
number of clans based on kinship. Each clan has its own 
priests who preside over its religious ceremonies. Their 
mythology and religious beliefs are too complicated for 
brief outline. Some of their rites are performed in secret, 
though other elaborate and impressive ceremonies, such as 
their " dances," are the occasion for great public festivity. 
The chief object of all these rites is rain. The Pueblos' 
very existence depends on their crops ; and in this arid re- 
gion it is always uncertain whether there will be rain enough 
to mature the corn. Believing that there are great reser- 
voirs stored up in the heavens, the Pueblos seek the favor of 
those above, who control the rain and therefore the harvest. 

9. The Wild Tribes. — The half -civilized and unwarlike 
Pueblos were not the only inhabitants of the region. The 
Navajos in the northwest, the Utes in the north, and the 
Apaches everywhere haunted rather than inhabited the 
country from Chihuahua (che-wa/wa) to the Colorado 
mountains and from Arizona to the plains of Texas and 
Oklahoma. They and their roving kinsmen, the Coman- 
ches, who drifted in from the east at the beginning of the 
eighteenth century, were constant enemies of the Pueblos, 
always ready to take advantage of every opportunity to 
plunder and steal. They were equally ready to greet the 
Spaniards with tomahawk and scalping knife. 



THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 13 

The Apaches had swarmed in from the eastern plains 
in the sixteenth century and spread over the whole region 
by the time the Spainards plantea their first settlement 
at San Juan (1598). Southwestern New Mexico and 
southeastern Arizona became their principal haunt. They 
lived largely on wild seeds, fruits, the products of the 
chase, and a little corn whenever they could steal it from 
the Pueblos and Spaniards. Though they now have some 
stock and do a little rude farming, they still live much as 
they did centuries ago. They are skilled makers of bas- 
kets and water-bottles. Predatory and warlike by nature, 
they are learning the ways of civilized life with exceeding 
slowness. 

The Navajos in the northwest are kinsmen of the Apaches. 
The early Spaniards called them Navajo Apaches, from the 
Indian word apachu (a-pa-choc/) , enemy, which the Zunis 
(zoo'nye) applied to them. Formerly they were poor 
hunters and herdsmen leading a wild, nomadic life. Now 
they are self-supporting and prosperous. They are expert 
silversmiths, and their blankets are famous all over the 
country. They live a simple life, commonly under an 
arbor, or shelter of brush, in the summer ; and in winter, 
in a cone-shaped lodge, or " hogan " (ho'gan), made of 
poles leaned together at the top and covered with bark and 
earth or other material. The house and the goods in it, 
except the weapons and equipment of the husband, belong 
to the wife. The children also belong to her and her clan. 
These social customs together with their religious rites 
and ceremonies point to their probable kinship with the 
Pueblos. 

10. The Spaniards. — New Mexico was discovered and 
settled by Spaniards, many of them born and bred in old 



14 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



Spain in the greatest age of Spanish history. They were 
heroic explorers and colonizers, unafraid of danger and 
ready to suffer any hardships in order to spread the in- 
fluence of their religion, to extend the power of their native 
land, and to win wealth and personal honor for themselves. 

^ With them they brought 
as their heritage the 
Spanish language, Span- 
ish traditions and cus- 
toms, and the Catholic 
faith. In this far-off 
wilderness they found 
only Indian neighbors, 
and for two centuries 
they had little direct con- 
tact with other peoples of 
the white race. They 
gave little attention to 
learning the Indian dialects, but tried to teach the Indians 
Spanish instead. Their language continued to be sixteenth 
and seventeenth century Spanish with but little Indian or 
other foreign influence except among the lower classes who 
married Indian wives. The speech of the pure-blood 
Spaniard in New Mexico, therefore, continues to be of pure 
Spanish origin. 

11. The French and Americans. — After about 1740 
an occasional Frenchman found his way into New Mexico 
from the Mississippi Valley. Now and then one settled 
down and stayed in the country ; but, until the beginning 
of the nineteenth century, they had little influence on the 
life of the colony. Then, after the United States pur- 
chased Louisiana in 1803, a small stream of American ex- 




A Navajo Hogan 



THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 15 

plorers, fur traders, trappers, merchants, and adventurers 
began to move this way. At first the numbers were not 
large, but this was the beginning of that famous American 
Pioneer element that became more numerous and influ- 
ential after 1825. And whether they were of French, 
English, Scotch, or Irish descent, they were true Americans 
— the product of the pioneering spirit of the American 
West. Many of them settled down, married Spanish 
women out of the best New Mexican families, became 




North Wing of the Aztec Ruin 

Showing Sandstone Pueblo Structure in Excellent State of Preservation. 

influential members of society, and some of them became 
wealthy. After the American Occupation of New Mexico 
in 1846 their number was increased considerably, though 
there was still no great tide of immigration until a genera- 
tion later, when, in the spring of 1879, the first railroad 
came through Raton (ra-ton') Pass into northeastern New 
Mexico. Since then the tide has flowed on unchecked, and 
to-day (1920) the population is fairly evenly divided between 
people of Spanish descent and those of Anglo-American 
origin, with the proportion of the latter steadily increasing. 
How these peoples have built up here the great common- 
wealth of New Mexico is the story told in this book. 



16 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



GENERAL READINGS 

W. W. H. Davis, The Spanish Conquest of New Mexico, 1 7-1 13. 

L. B. Prince, A Concise History of New Mexico, 13-51. 

B. M. Read, Illustrated History of New Mexico, 33-56. 

R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, I, 3-50. 

SPECIAL TOPICS 

1. The Pueblo Indians. F. W. Hodge, Handbook of American Indians, 
II, 316-325; L. Farrand, Basis of American History ("American Natioin" 
Series, II), 181-187; C. F. Lumnis, The Land of Poco Tiempo, 27-74, io 9~ 
154, 251-310. 

2. Indian Society and Religion. L. Farrand, Basis of American 
History, 195-214. 

3. American Influence on New Mexican Spanish. A. M. Espinosa, 
"Speech Mixture in New Mexico," in The Pacific Ocean in History, 408-428. 

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Give the latitude and longitude of New Mexico ; its length, breadth, 
and area. Compare it with other States. 

2. Where are the mountainous regions? the plains, the principal valleys? 
What are the three drainage basins? 

3. Why is the climate so different from that of eastern States in the same 
latitude? What difference would it make in climate if the prevailing winds 
were from the east? If the altitude were low? 

4. Mention three specific ways in which geography and climate have 
affected New Mexican history. Can you think of others? 

5. Who were the Cliff Dwellers? Give two meanings of the word 
"pueblo." Describe the houses of the Pueblo Indians. Who built them? 
What is a kiva ? 

6. How did the Pueblos make their living before the Spaniards came? 
What did they eat? What did they wear? What kind of weapons did 
they have ? 

7. What was "man's work" among the Pueblos? "Woman's work"? 
How were marriages arranged? Who was head of the house? 

8. What regions were roamed over by the Navajos? Apaches? Utes? 
Comanches ? 

9. Where did the Apaches come from? How did they live? What 
progress are they making? 

10. Compare the Navajos with the Apaches in mode of life, industries, 
and progress. What evidences are there that they are kin to the Pueblos ? 

11. What three European peoples have played important parts in the 
history of the State? When did each come? 

12. Why should we study New Mexican history? 



CHAPTER II 
THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN 

12. The Discovery of America. — At the close of the 
fifteenth century Spain was rapidly becoming the most 
powerful nation in Europe. She, therefore, became the 
leader in the great Age of Discovery and laid the founda- 
tions of her American empire a century before any other 
nation established colonies in North America. She fur- 
nished Columbus the ships, money, and sailors for the 
great voyage that brought him to the West India Islands 
in October, 1492. A year later ^December, 1493) Columbus 
planted the Spanish colony of Isabella on the island of 
Haiti (ha'ti), called Espanola (es-pa-nyo'la) by the Span- 
iards — the first permanent European settlement in the 
New World. During the next half century Spain was the 
one country whose people added greatly to the world's 
knowledge of North America. Her seamen explored the 
coast from Nova Scotia to the Straits of Magellan. Her 
soldiers tramped over the country from Jamestown to the 
Pacific coast. 

13. The Conquest of Mexico. — From their New- 
World center of operations in the West Indies the restless 
Spaniards quickly extended their colonies to the Isthmus 
of Panama and Central America. In April, 15 19, Hernando 
Cortes (er-nan'do kor-tas') landed on the coast of Mexico 
with a band of Spanish soldiers whom he had recruited in 
Cuba. Founding Vera Cruz (Va/ra kroos') at his landing 
place and destroying his ships to cut off retreat, he set 

17 



18 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

out inland to conquer the continent. There was hard 
fighting to do, but success lay ahead. By the middle of 
August, 1 52 1, he had conquered the Aztec (az'tek) kingdom 

and was in full control of Mexico 
City and the land of the Monte- 
zumas (mon-ta-soo'ma). Two 
years later the Spanish king ap- 
pointed him captain general and 
governor of this " New Spain " 
(modern Mexico). 

But the ambition of Cortes, 
one of the greatest Spaniards of 
his age, was not satisfied. From 
Mexico City as a new base of 
Spanish power in America he 
pushed his operations in all direc- 
tions. By October, 1531, a per- 
manent settlement on the west 
coast had been planted as far 
north as Culiacan (koo-lya-kan') 
in the modern state of Sinaloa 
Hernando Cortes ( S e- n a-lo'a). 

14. Spaniards Arrive from the North. — Indian gossips 
filled the ears of these northward-moving pioneers with 
strange stories of the country of the " Seven Cities " far 
away across the northern deserts where people lived in 
large houses and possessed great wealth. Interest in those 
far-off and unknown regions was suddenly multiplied when 
one day in April, 1536, a group of white men came out of 
the northern wilderness and walked into the village of 
Culiacan, the northern outpost of New Spain. Who were 
these strangers? And whence had they come? 




THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN 19 

15. The Wanderings of Cabeza de Vaca. — Their leader 
was Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca (al'var noo'nyas ca-ba/sa 
da va/ka), who had started out from Spain in 1527 as royal 
treasurer of the Narvaez (nar-va/as) expedition for the set- 
tlement of Florida. Sharing all the misfortunes of that 
ill-fated expedition in Cuba, Florida, and on the Gulf, he 
was finally shipwrecked on the coast of Texas in November, 
1528. With him came also Andres Dorantes (an-dras' 
do-ran' tas), Alonso del Castillo Maldonado (a-lon'so del 
kas-te'yo mal-do-na/tho), and Stephen, the Negro slave 
of Dorantes. 

For seven years they had been slaves among the Indians 
of the Texas coast. Then in the summer of 1535 they 
escaped and started on their journey across the continent. 
Making their way from tribe to tribe as traders, medicine 
men, and jugglers, they went westward through Texas, 
crossed northern Mexico, and reached the Spanish settle- 
ments on the Gulf of California before the end of April, 
1536, thus completing the first big chapter in the history 
of North American travel. Incidentally they had seen the 
great American buffalo and given to the world the first 
description of it. Perhaps, too, they had discovered the 
mouth of the Mississippi a dozen years before De Soto 
(da so' to) saw it. 

16. The Influence of Vaca's Story. — Although Vaca did 
not pass through any part of New Mexico, his journey had 
great influence on its history. The story of his wanderings 
held his Spanish kinsmen spellbound. He and his com- 
panions had lived the wild and savage life of the roving 
Indians for so many years that they " could not wear any 
[clothing] for some time, nor could we sleep anywhere else 
but on the ground. " 



20 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 




SOUTHWESTERN 

EXPLORATION 

1527-1598 



THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN 21 

Over beyond the northern mountains the Indians had 
told them of a country still farther to the north from which 
they got turquoises and emeralds, where the people built 
great cities and lived in houses many stories high — un- 
doubtedly the New Mexican Pueblo villages in the land 
of the legendary Seven Cities. This was the first word 
about New Mexico ever carried to New Spain by any white 
man. It fired the imagination of the Spanish conquerors 
and led directly to the discovery of New Mexico by Friar 
Marcos de Niza (mar'kos da ne'sa) and the exploration 
by Coronado. 

THE DISCOVERY OF NEW MEXICO 

17. The Conquistador es. — The early Spaniards in 
North America represented the spirit and energy of Spain 
in her greatest century. Their achievements in the con- 
quest of Central America, Peru, and Mexico gave them a 
new sense of the dignity and worth of the individual Spanish 
pioneer. They were the conquistador es (kon-kes-ta-tho'ras) , 
conquerors, who gloried in overrunning vast new regions and 
conquering them for the Spanish dominions. Men filled 
with such a spirit could not fail to be stirred by the roman- 
tic story of Vaca's wonderful journey across the continent. 
Antonio de Mendoza (an- to nyo da men-do'sa), the pro- 
gressive viceroy, began immediate preparations for a great 
military expedition into these northern lands. But before 
undertaking so ambitious and expensive an enterprise he 
thought it wise to send out a small exploring party to learn 
more of the country. 

18. Friar Marcos de Niza. — The man selected to lead 
this exploring party was Marcos de Niza, a Franciscan 
friar who had been with Pizarro (pe-sar'ro) in the conquest 



22 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

of Peru and then had been a frontier missionary in the 
northern portion of New Spain. For guide he was to have 
Stephen, the Negro slave who had accompanied Cabeza 
de Vaca. With them went six Indian interpreters who had 
been at Mexico City learning the Spanish language and 
Christian customs. 
. This lone frontier missionary priest and explorer, with 
fewer companions than he had ringers on his hands, was 
starting out for a whole summer's journey through the un- 
known north, with no trail to guide his feet nor any pro- 
tection from the savage tribes through whose country he 
might travel — a region in which to this day the traveler 
who strays from the beaten trail may easily lose his life. 

19. Friar Marcos Goes Northward. — Setting out from 
Culiacan on March 7, 1539, Friar Marcos followed the west 
coast to the Sonora Valley. Stopping there for some 
much-needed rest, he sent Stephen ahead to explore the 
country and report to him. If the country was unusually 
good, the Negro was to send a cross two hands long; if 
it was as rich and populous as New Spain, a still larger 
cross. The fourth day afterward an Indian messenger 
came back bringing " a very large cross, as tall as a man! " 
The Indian also told him that there were seven great 
cities in the first province, with large houses two, three, 
and four stories high. They were built of stone and lime, 
and the doorways were ornamented with turquoises, of 
which there was great abundance. There were other 
provinces further on much greater than these Seven Cities. 

20. New Mexico Discovered. — Friar Marcos now 
pressed forward over the burning deserts of northern Mexico 
and southeastern Arizona, in eager search for the Seven 
Cities. But he did not overtake Stephen. The Negro 



THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN 



23 



reached Zuni first, only to be taken for a spy and killed. 
One quaint Indian legend runs that their wise men took 
him out of the pueblo during the night and " gave him a 
powerful kick, which sped him through the air back to the 
south, whence he came ! " 

Black Stephen, fully two hundred miles ahead, had seen 
New Mexico first ; but it was Friar Marcos, the first white 




The Terraces of Zuni 



man to set foot on her soil, who discovered New Mexico 
for the world and started the tide of civilization moving 
this way. From the top of a near-by mesa, late in May, 
1539, he beheld the Zuni pueblo of Hawikuh (ha-we-koo') 
in the western part of McKinley County. It was the first 
of the Seven Cities henceforth to be known as the Seven 
Cities of Cibola (se'bo-la). The Zunis had been so aroused 
by the coming of Stephen that Friar Marcos was not allowed 
to come nearer. Like Moses of old, he beheld the Promised 



24 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

Land, but was not allowed to enter. He erected a cross 
and took possession of the country for Spain, naming it the 
" Kingdom of St. Francis." 

21. The Return of Friar Marcos. — Hastily retracing 
his steps, " with far more fright than food," Marcos was 
soon back in New Spain, reporting to the viceroy. He had 
discovered New Mexico, seen the many-storied houses of 
the Zunis, some of whose people wore turquoises suspended 
from their noses and ears. From the Indians along the 
way he had heard glowing stories of great cities, populous 
nations, and lands abounding in wealth. These stories 
lost nothing as they passed from mouth to mouth among 
the adventurers of the northern frontier in the fall of 1539. 
They took New Spain by storm. Everybody wanted to 
share in the wealth and glory of conquering the new land 
for Spain. It looked as if the country around Mexico City 
were going to be depopulated, so great was the general 
desire of the Spaniards to try their fortunes in the north. 

GENERAL READINGS 

H. H. Bancroft, History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1-35. 

E. G. Bourne, Spain in America ("American Nation" Series, III), 1-170. 

W. W. H. Davis, The Spanish Conquest of New Mexico, 1 14-140. 

C. F. Lummis, The Spanish Pioneers, 17-24, 56-70, 78-80, 101-116. 

L. B. Prince, A Concise History of New Mexico, 52-65. 

B. M. Read, Illustrated History of New Mexico, 57-98. 

R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, I, 53-160. 

SPECIAL TOPICS 

1. The Wanderings of De Vac a. Bancroft, as cited above; A. F. 
Bandelier, "Contributions to the History of the Southwestern Portion of 
the United States," in Papers of the Archaological Institute of America, 
American Series, V, Chapter 2 ; G. P. Winship, "The Coronado Expedition, 
1540-1542," in Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, Part I, 
345-350; H. Davenport and J. K. Wells, "The First Europeans in Texas, 
1528-1536," in Southwestern Historical Quarterly, XXII (Oct., 1918-Jan., 



THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN 25 

1919), 111-142, 205-259; F. W. Hodge (ed.), "The Narrative of Alvar 
Nunez Cabeza de Vaca," in Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States 
("Original Narratives" Series), 1-126. 

2. The Discovery by Friar Marcos. A. F. Bandelier, "The Discovery 
of New Mexico by Fray Marcos of Nizza," in Magazine of Western History, 
IV (Sept., 1886), 659-670; G. P. Winship, "The Coronado Expedition, 
1540-1542," 353-373; F. W. Hodge (ed.), "The Narrative of the Expedi- 
tion of Coronado, by Pedro de Castaneda," in Spanish Explorers in the South- 
ern United States, 273-290. 

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Why was Spain the leader in the discovery and exploration of North 
America? 

2. When was the conquest of Mexico begun? What kind of man was 
Cortes? What was "New Spain"? 

3. How did the Spaniards first learn about the "Seven Cities"? When 
did they first hear of that country from white men? 

4. How did Cabeza de Vaca come to be in the northern part of New 
Spain? What inportance has his journey for New Mexico history? 

5. Who were the conquistador es f Do you admire their courage and 
daring? 

6. Who was Friar Marcos de Niza? Stephen? Trace the route of 
their journey to the north. Locate Vera Cruz, Mexico City, Culiacan, the 
Sonora River. 

7. Who discovered New Mexico? When? Where? Find Zuni on 
your map. What name did Friar Marcos give to the country? What be- 
came of Stephen? 

8. What stories did Marcos hear from the Indians along the way ? What 
effect did his report have in New Spain that fall ? 



CHAPTER III 

EXPLORATION AND CONQUEST, 1540-1595 
I. THE CORONADO EXPEDITION, 1540-1542 

22. A New Era Begins. — The report of Friar Marcos 
marked the beginning of a new era. The soldiers and ad- 
venturers around Mexico City welcomed the prospect of a 
new field of operations and new lands to conquer. Viceroy 
Antonio de Mendoza immediately began preparations 
for such an enterprise. He selected Compostela (kom- 
po-sta/la) on the Pacific coast as the assembling place for 
the expedition, and appointed his friend Francisco Vasquez 
(vas'kas) Coronado as captain general with Friar Marcos 
de Niza as guide. 

February 22, 1540, the army passed in final review be- 
fore the viceroy at Compostela and the next day started 
away to the north. Two hundred gentlemen on horse- 
back, clad in shining helmets and coats of armor, with 
lances erect and swords hanging by their sides, were fol- 
lowed by seventy footmen carrying crossbows or swords 
and shields. Seven or eight hundred Indians drove the 
great pack train loaded with baggage and supplies and 
herded the stock furnished to supply the expedition with 
fresh meat. 

Turning away up the coast to the northwest by Culiacan, 
Coronado followed the route of Friar Marcos and Stephen 
the year before. Going ahead from Culiacan with an ad- 

26 



EXPLORATION AND CONQUEST 27 

vance guard, he reached Zuni on July 7. The main army 
followed more slowly. 

23. Beginning of the Conquest. — The Zufiis had sent 
away their women and prepared to defend their village. 
After a sharp fight led by Coronado in person, the Spaniards 
captured it and secured a large amount of provisions, which 
were now " needed a great deal more than gold or silver." 




Coronado Captures Zuni 

They named it " Granada " (gra-na'tha) after the famous 
Moorish stronghold in southern Spain. 

But they found no wealth there ; and the soldiers com- 
plained so bitterly that Friar Marcos, the old hero-priest 
and guide, now broken in health and spirit, returned to 
New Spain. 

Nor were the Indians any better satisfied than the Span- 
iards. These pale-faced foreigners, riding on horses, and 
fighting with thundersticks that shot out flashes of lightning, 
filled the Zufiis with dismay. The red men, therefore, 
gathered up such property as they could carry and fled to 



28 THE HISTORY OF NEvV MEXICO 

the top of Thunder Mountain, the home of their war 
god. 

24. Tusayan and the Grand Canyon. — From Zuni 
Coronado began to direct the exploration of the country. 
Pedro de Tovar (pa/ thro da to-var') with twenty followers 
went to the northwest and discovered the Tusayan (too- 
sa'yan) village in the Moqui (mo'ke) province of north- 
eastern Arizona. Then Garcia Lopez de Cardenas (gar-se'a 
lo'pas da kar'da-nas) led a dozen companions across the desert 
beyond Tusayan to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. 

25. Alvarado Goes Eastward. — Of more importance 
for the history of New Mexico, however, was the movement 
of Hernando de Alvarado (al-va-ra'tho) to the eastward, 
blazing the direct trail by Acoma, the oldest continuously 
inhabited settlement in the United States, to Puaray 
(pwa-ri r ), which the Spaniards renamed " Tiguex " (te- 
gwesh'), the principal village of the Tigua (te'gwa) Indians, 
on the east bank of the Rio Grande near the modern town 
of Bernalillo (ber-na-le'yo) . The place was so attractive 
that he sent word back to Coronado to bring the army there 
for winter quarters. 

In the meantime Alvarado went farther eastward. A 
young chief from Cicuye (se-koo-ya'), whom the Spaniards 
called Bigotes (be-go'tas), whiskers, had told him many 
stories of the buffalo country while he was at Zuiii. He, 
therefore, went over into the valley, of the Pecos River to 
Cicuye (the pueblo of Pecos), the home of Bigotes, and 
out on the plains to about the present eastern boundary 
of the State. At Pecos he also met a plains Indian, called 
" the Turk," who told him glowing tales of wealth in gold 
and silver to be found in his own country far to the east. 

26. The First Winter at Tiguex. — Alvarado returned 



EXPLORATION AND CONQUEST 2Q 

to Tiguex, and by the end of November the entire force 
was encamped there for the winter. In need of supplies 
and especially clothing, blankets, and quarters, for protec- 
tion against the unaccustomed cold weather, the Spaniards 
drove the Indians out of one of their villages and took from 
them such things as they wanted. 

It was a high-handed procedure which quickly led to an 
Indian revolt. Then the Spaniards took a bloody ven- 
geance. For fifty days they besieged the village, burning 
at the stake two hundred Indians who had laid down their 
arms under promise of pardon, " to make an example of 
them so that the other natives would fear the Spaniards." 

Early one morning the Pueblos fled to the hills. Some 
of the soldiers pursued and killed many of them, while 
others plundered the town. Later Coronado attempted 
to make peace with them. But he could not induce them 
to return to their villages until after the army left the next 
spring. 

27. Tales of " Quivira." — During that first winter at 
Tiguex, while the Spaniards were laying the foundations 
for Indian hostility for generations to come, they were also 
listening to the fabulous tales which led them out on the 
eastern plains. The Turk had come over from Cicuye to 
tell them of the wealth of his country, Quivira (ke-ve'ra) 
to the northeast, in the hope of luring them out on the plains 
to die of thirst — an easy way to get rid of unwelcome 
strangers. 

28. Coronado Goes to the Eastern Plains. — The ly- 
ing tales of the Turk had their effect. Coronado's force 
broke camp at Tiguex, April 23, 1541, and started in search 
of Quivira. Crossing the mountains by Apache Canyon, 
then guided by the silvery waters of the Pecos flowing to- 



30 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

ward the southeast, the army traveled down to the region 
of Puerto de Luna (pwer'to da loo'na), built a bridge across 
the Pecos, and set out through the Clovis country to the 
buffalo plains. For many days they could see " nothing 
but cows and the sky." Thirty-seven days after leaving 
Tiguex they reached a pleasant river valley, probably the 
upper waters of the Brazos (bra/sos) River in Texas. 

29. The Army Returns to Tiguex. — By this time food 
was growing scarce, and there was no available supply ex- 
cept buffalo meat. None of the Turk's tales had come 
true or was likely to do so. The whole army was in danger. 
A council of the leaders, therefore, decided to send the main 
army under Captain Arellano (a-ra-ya/no) back to Tiguex. 
It returned by a more direct route, reaching the Pecos 
River in the Roswell region, going up the river to Pecos 
pueblo and over to Tiguex, making the journey in twenty- 
five days. 

On their appearance the Indians again fled to the hills 
and could not be induced to return. 

The soldiers, sorely disappointed because they could 
not accompany the General on his march to Quivira, turned 
their attention to exploring the country round about. By 
the time he came back that fall they had explored the whole 
Pueblo region of the Rio Grande Valley from Taos in the 
north to San Martial (san mar-syal') in the south. They 
were staking out a large claim for Spain. 

30. The March to Quivira. — From the Brazos River 
country in western Texas, Coronado, accompanied by thirty 
picked horsemen and half a dozen footmen, marched di- 
rectly north to the Arkansas River, crossing near modern 
Dodge City, Kansas, and going northeast to the province 
of the Quiviras (Wichita Indians) in eastern Kansas. 



EXPLORATION AND CONQUEST 31 

The lying Turk, who had started out as guide, had been 
in chains since Coronado left his army in western Texas and 
was " made an example of " just before reaching Quivira. 

The Quiviras (Wichitas) were barbarous, half-naked 
plains Indians, living in straw-covered mud huts, dressing 
in buffalo skins, and eating raw flesh. Their country was 
a disappointment. Coronado's captains explored it for 
fifty or seventy-five miles around, but found neither gold 
nor other valuable metal. In fact, the North American 
Indian knew nothing of gold until he learned it from the 
white man. His word for " metal " was the closest name 
to it. 

31. The Second Winter at Tiguex. — Early in August 
Coronado and his men started back to New Mexico by a 
route close to the Cimarron (se-mar-ron') Cut-Off of the 
later Santa Fe Trail (sec. 128). By the middle of October 
they were again at Tiguex, and the entire army had gone 
into winter quarters on the banks of the Rio Grande for a 
second time. 

Coronado was now a sadder but wiser man. His cap- 
tains, returning empty-handed from a whole summer's 
marching on the burning plains, were a downcast lot. 
They were hardly willing to obey his order that the winter 
should be spent in preparation for taking the whole force 
to the plains of eastern Kansas to make settlements the 
following spring. The long winter of 1 541-1542 at Tiguex 
furnished ample opportunity for heated discussion between 
those who wished to continue with the General and those 
who were ready to abandon the whole enterprise. In the 
early spring of 1542 Coronado was thrown from his horse 
and run over by another horse. While he lay at the point 
of death, the army formed its plan to abandon the country. 



32 THE' HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

32. The Last Days of Coronado. — Early in May the 
expedition set out on its return to New Spain. The home- 
ward journey by way of Acoma, Zuni, and the old trail 
followed two years before is of little interest, though the 
end was pathetic. The men began dropping out as soon 
as they reached the northern settlements, and the great 
Commander reached Mexico City with less than a hundred 
followers. 

When he made his report to Viceroy Mendoza that 
autumn, he was received with cold indifference. A little 
later he was relieved of the governorship of New Galicia — 
and forgotten. He had led the grandest exploring expedi- 
tion ever fitted out in New Spain; but instead of wealth 
and honor, he reaped poverty and obscurity. 

33. His Great Achievements. — Coronado had found 
no gold nor silver nor wealth of any kind. But he had 
explored the country three-fourths of the way from the 
Gulf of California to the Great Lakes, traversing Sinaloa, 
Sonora, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kan- 
sas, and discovering the Grand Canyon. His men had ex- 
plored New Mexico from east to west and from Taos in 
the north to the region of San Marcial and Roswell in the 
south. 

Though Coronado died neglected and forgotten, he had 
added more territory to the crown of Spain than any other 
living man, and his labors formed the basis of the world's 
geographic knowledge of the southwestern portion of North 
America. 

34. First Christian Missionaries in New Mexico. — 
Christian missionaries were among the pioneers in every 
Spanish land. Marcos de Niza, the discoverer of New 
Mexico, was a Franciscan friar. Three other Franciscans 



EXPLORATION AND CONQUEST 33 

came with Coronado in 1540 and remained in New Mexico 
when the General and his great expedition left in 1542. 

Friars Juan de la Cruz (kroos) and Luis de Escalona 
(lwes da es-ka-lo'na), aged men, whose physical strength 
and vigor were gone, cast their lot with the Pueblos. Juan 
de la Cruz stayed at Tiguex, where he was killed by the 
Indians before the close of the year (probably November 
25, 1542). Luis de Escalona went over to Cicuye (Pecos). 
No Spanish legend or Indian tradition remains to tell his 
fate. The third of the missionaries was Juan de Padilla 
(pa-the'ya), a young and vigorous fellow who had accom- 
panied Coronado on all his wanderings. He had gone with 
Tovar to Tusayan and with Alvarado to the eastern plains 
in 1540, and had been one of the footmen who accompanied 
the General to Quivira in the summer of 1541. Now he 
chose to go back to the Quiviras (Wichitas) of eastern 
Kansas in the spring of 1542 for mission work. He was 
accompanied by Andres del Campo (an-dras' del cam'po), 
a Portuguese soldier, and a few friendly Indians who had 
been brought along from New Spain. At first the Quiviras 
" loved him as a father/' but in 1544 (probably November 
30) they fell upon him and murdered him. 

Del Campo and his companions fled. Eight or nine 
years later, after wandering across Oklahoma, Texas, and 
northeastern Mexico, they walked into Tampico (tam- 
pe'ko) on the Gulf coast, to tell another marvelous story 
of early American travel. 

II. THE SECOND ERA OF EXPLORATION, 1581-1595 

35. The Shifting Frontier of New Spain. — Forty years 
went by before the Pueblos saw another party of Europeans 
in their midst. The apparent failure of the Coronado 



34 ■ THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

expedition caused the government to abandon temporarily 
all effort to settle the new country. Yet northern expansion 
was the natural outlet for the restless energy of the Span- 
iards in Mexico, and they did not wait for governmental 
encouragement. Gold seekers, explorers, and missionaries 
pushing out into the northern wilderness were quickly fol- 
lowed by cattlemen and colonists. Soon the northern 
frontier of settlement had crossed the central table lands 
and reached the upper waters of the Conchos (kon'chos) 
River at the Santa Barbara (san'ta bar'ba-ra) mines in 
southern Chihuahua, pointing the way for a more direct 
route to the land of the Pueblos. 

36. The Name " New Mexico." — In 1567 Francisco 
Ibarra (e-bar'ra), governor of New Biscay, led an expedition 
from the western coast across the mountains to Casas 
Grandes in northern Chihuahua near the southwestern 
border of modern New Mexico. So well did he like the 
country that he described it as " a new Mexico," that is, 
another country like the Valley of Mexico. A year later 
(1568) Francisco del Cano fka'no) discovered the " Lake 
of New Mexico," probably Lake Parras (par'ras), in the 
country far to the north of Zacatecas (sa-ka-ta/kas). The 
name stuck, and soon came into common use as the desig- 
nation for this northern region. 

37. The Rodriguez Expedition, 1581-1582. — Friar 
Agustin Rodriguez (a-goos-ten' ro-dre'gas), a Franciscan 
missionary working among the rough frontiersmen of Santa 
Barbara and San Bartolome (bar-to-16-ma/), had become 
interested in the stories of the Pueblos and desired to con- 
vert them to Christianity. With two other Franciscans, 
Juan de Santa Maria (san'ta ma-re'a) and Francisco Lopez, 
and an escort of nine soldiers and traders under Francisco 



EXPLORATION AND CONQUEST 35 

Sanchez Chamuscado (san'chas cha-moos-ca'th5), he set 
out from Santa Barbara June 6, 1581, accompanied by 
about sixteen Indian guides and servants. Following 
down the Conchos River to the Rio Grande and up that 
stream to the Pueblo country, they opened up a new and 
more direct route to New Mexico. 

The pueblo of Puaray (the Tiguex of Coronado) near 
modern Bernalillo became their center of operations. Juan 
de Santa Maria, against the advice of both friars and sol- 
diers, determined to return to Mexico. Hoping to find a 
still more direct route to the lower Rio Grande, he crossed 
the Sandia (san-de'a) Mountains and set out toward El 
Paso. Three days later he was killed by the Indians. 

38. Exploring the Country. — Both soldiers and priests 
were eager to learn about the country. They soon set off 
up the Jemez (ha'mas) River, turned eastward to visit 
the buffalo country, came back through the salt lakes 
region in Torrance County, went west to Zuni and far-off 
Moqui, and then returned to Puaray. They saw sixty-one 
pueblos containing a population which was estimated at 
" more than one hundred and thirty thousand souls " and 
had heard of as many more — an enthusiastic exaggeration, 
of course. 

39. Return of the Soldiers — Death of the Friars. — 
In January, 1582, Chamuscado and the soldiers started 
back down the Rio Grande to join their kinsmen around 
the Santa Barbara mines. Fathers Rodriguez and Lopez, 
with a few Indian servants, remained at Puaray to Chris- 
tianize the Pueblos. The natives of Puaray, however, 
had not forgotten their harsh treatment at the hands of 
Coronado's captains forty years before ; and in a short 
time they put an arrow through the heart of Lopez and 



36 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



allowed Rodriguez to bury him. A few days later they 
killed Rodriguez and threw his body into the Rio Grande. 
The second effort to Christianize the Indians of New 
Mexico, like the first, had won martyrs' crowns. 

40. The Espejo Expedition, 1582-1583. — These dis- 
asters did not chill the patriotic and missionary zeal of the 
Spanish pioneers. No sooner had the soldiers returned 
to Santa Barbara and reported the death of Santa Maria 

and the leaving of Ro- 
driguez and Lopez at 
Puaray than the Fran- 
ciscans bestirred them- 
selves to send out a rescue 
party. Father Bernal- 
dino Beltran (ber-nal- 
de'no bel-tran';, of Dur- 
ango, volunteered as 
leader, and was imme- 
diately joined by Antonio 
de Espejo (es-pa/ho), a 
native of Cordova (kor'- 
do-va) in Spain, now a 
wealthy gentleman of Mexico engaged in working the 
Santa Barbara mines. Espejo offered not only to furnish 
military protection for Father Beltran, but to pay the whole 
expense of the expedition. In July the Indian servants 
who had been left in New Mexico suddenly appeared 
in Santa Barbara and told of the death of another of the 
friars. Espejo and Beltran, however, experienced many 
delays. Not until November io, 1 582 , did they set out down 
the Conchos from San Bartolome. Espejo had a command 
of fourteen soldiers. Father Beltran was accompanied by a 




Prehistoric Pictographs 



EXPLORATION AND CONQUEST 37 

few friends. With them came Indian guides and servants. 
Their pack train of a hundred and fifteen horses and mules 
was loaded with baggage, provisions, munitions, merchan- 
dise, and trinkets — for trade with the Indians was not lost 
sight of. 

In the country below El Paso the Jumano (hoo-ma/no) 
Indians told them of " three Christians and a negro " 
(Cabeza de Vaca and his companions) passing through 
their country many years before. 

Just before reaching Puaray, Espejo and Beltran learned 
from the Tigua Indians that all three of the Friars were 
dead. When the expedition camped at the pueblo, Febru- 
ary 17, 1583, the guilty natives fled to the hills. 

41. Exploration and Prospecting. — The object of getting 
information about the friars was now attained. The 
hope of rescuing any of them was at an end. But Espejo 
had still other interests at heart. A wealthy mine operator 
and man of affairs, he naturally turned his attention to 
exploring the region and examining its mineral prospects. 
He visited Sia (se'a) and Jemez, went west to Acoma and 
ZufLi. 

At Zuni he heard of a Lake of Gold (Laguna del Oro) 
sixty days' journey to the westward, where the people 
" wore bracelets and earrings of gold." He did not find 
the fabled Lake of Gold, but the search for it led him first 
to Moqui and then far away to the upper waters of the 
Bill Williams Fork in western Arizona. " I found them," 
he says of the mines, " and with my own hands I extracted 
ore from them, said by those who know to be very rich and 
to contain much silver." 

42. Return to New Spain. — Returning to Zuni, Espejo 
found Father Beltran, who was not in sympathy with his 



38 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

schemes of exploration, ready to quit the country at once. 
Beltran and nine companions returned by Acoma to the 
Rio Grande and went south toward San Bartolome. Espejo 
and eight soldiers who remained with him marched back 
to Puaray, visited the pueblos up the river to the region 
north of Santa Fe, then turned across the mountains to 
Cicuye (Pecos), and went down the Pecos River, naming 
it " Rio de las Vacas " (re'6 da las va'kas) from the buffalo 
grazing on its banks. From about the present southern 
boundary of the State he crossed to the mouth of the Con- 
chos and went up that stream to the settlements, Sep- 
tember 20, 1583. 

He had blazed the trail for a third line of approach from 
the northern settlements of New Spain to the Pueblo 
region of central and northern New Mexico. 

43. The First White Woman in New Mexico. — In 
the Espejo expedition was a soldier, Miguel Sanchez Va- 
lenciano (me-gaT san'chas va-len-sya/no), whose wife, 
Casilda (ka-sel'da), and three small sons, accompanied 
him on all the long tramp over central and western New 
Mexico. She was probably the first white woman within 
the borders of the State. 

44. Espejo's Achievements. — Espejo, a private citizen, 
with no governmental aid, and with only fourteen Spanish 
soldiers, one friar, a few frontiersmen and friendly Indians, 
explored New Mexico almost as extensively as the great 
expedition of Coronado had done. He spent ten months 
in the country, had no serious trouble with the Indians, 
and did not lose a man. 

As a practical miner and man of affairs not looking for 
nuggets of gold lying around on top of the ground, but 
depending upon the evidences of minerals in the moun- 



EXPLORATION AND CONQUEST 39 

tains ready to yield themselves to the miner's pick, he re- 
ported it a country of great mineral wealth. He also recom- 
mended it as a good grazing country with " lands suitable 
for fields and gardens, with or without irrigation. " He esti- 
mated the Indian population at 253,000 — about ten times 
too large. 

So enthusiastic was he about the region that he named it 
" Nueva Andalucia " (an-da-loo-se'a) for his native land in 
Spain. His report had more influence in bringing about the 
settlement of New Mexico than all previous ones combined. 

45. Colonizing Schemes. — Espejo applied directly to 
the Spanish king, April 23, 1584, for authority to colonize 
the region as a new kingdom or viceroy alty to the north of 
Mexico. He offered to bring out a colony of four hundred 
men, including a hundred with families, and twenty-four 
Franciscan missionaries. He proposed to bring his colonists 
in two divisions : one up the Rio Grande, the other up the 
Pecos. Because of his " desire to increase the realms of 
your Majesty and the Catholic faith " he wished to finish 
his life " in the continuation of these discoveries and settle- 
ments." " I shall not be satisfied until I reach the coasts 
of the North and South seas." 

Unfortunately for New Mexico his wish was not granted. 
Other ambitious men in New Spain were seeking similar 
honors. Cristobal Martin (kres-to'bal mar- ten') had already 
(October, 1583) applied to the viceroy for colonizing author- 
ity. Others followed. Among them was Juan Bautista 
de Lomas (bow-tes'ta da lo'mas), early in 1589, whose 
extravagant demands included making the members of his 
family titled nobles, giving them supreme power in the new 
kingdom for six generations, providing them with forty 
thousand servants, and many other things needless to 



40 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



mention. The proposals of all these gentlemen were re- 
jected. 

46. Castano de Sosa, 1590-1591. — While the govern- 
ment was dallying with propositions for settlements, Gaspar 
Castano de Sosa (gas-par' kas-ta'nyo da so'sa), captain 
general of New Leon da-on'), made a bold dash for the honor 



71 




Basket Dance, San Ildefonso 

of colonizing New Mexico. Relying on the provision of 
the Laws of Settlement of 1573, which permitted officers to 
make settlements in regions already discovered, provided 
they gave prompt notice of their action, he sent word to 
the viceroy and immediately started for the north, July 
27, 1590. From his mining camp at New Almaden (al- 
ma-than'), now Monclova (mon-klo'va) , he made his way 
to the Rio Grande and up the Pecos, which he called the 
Rio Salado (sa-la'tho), or Salt River, to Cicuye. With 



EXPLORATION AND CONQUEST 41 

him were a hundred and seventy persons, including women 
and children. He also had a wagon train of supplies and 
implements. 

From Cicuye he went over to San Ildefonso (el-da-fon'so), 
Santa Clara, San Juan, and Taos, then back down the river 
by Santo Domingo (san'to do-men'go) and Tiguex to Isleta 
(es-la'ta), below Albuquerque (al-boo-ker'ka) . In the 
meantime a company of fifty soldiers had come up the Rio 
Grande to arrest him. It was commanded by Captain 
Juan Morlete (mor-la'ta), the jealous ruler of the neighbor- 
ing frontier province of New Biscay, who had persuaded the 
viceroy that Sosa was trying to stir up rebellion. Down 
the Rio Grande and to Mexico City Sosa was taken as a 
prisoner to stand trial. His hope was blasted. 

47. Humana and Bonilla. — Another unauthorized at- 
tempt was made by Captains Humana (60-ma/nya) and 
Bonilla (bo-ne'ya), about 1593 or 1594. They came up 
from New Biscay with a small party, spent most of a year 
among the Pueblos, went out on the northeastern plains, 
visited a large Indian village on the Arkansas, and pushed 
on probably to the Platte River. Then they quarreled, 
Humana murdered Bonilla, and the Indians in turn wiped 
out the party. We know the story only from the account 
of a New Mexican Indian named Joseph, who escaped and 
got back to New Mexico after a year's captivity among 
the Apaches. 

GENERAL READINGS 

H. H. Bancroft, History of Arizona and New Mexico, 35-109. 
E. G. Bourne, Spain in America ("American Nation" Series, III), 170- 
174. 
W. W. H. Davis, The Spanish Conquest of New Mexico, 141-261. 
C. F. Lummis, The Spanish Pioneers, 80-88. 
L. B. Prince, A Concise History of New Mexico, 66-91. 



42 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

B. M. Read, Illustrated History of New Mexico, 119-191. 

R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, I, 162-299. 

SPECIAL TOPICS 

i. The Coronado Expedition. G. P. Winship, "The Coronado Ex- 
pedition, 1540-1542," in Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 
Part I, 362-613; F. W. Hodge (ed.), "The Narrative of the Expedition of 
Coronado, by Pedro de Castafieda," in Spanish Explorers in the Southern 
United States ("Original Narratives" Series), 273-387. 

2. The Rodriguez Expedition. H. E. Bolton, Spanish Exploration 
in the Southwest, 1542-1706 ("Original Narratives" Series), 135-160. 

3. The Espejo Expedition. H. E. Bolton, Same as above, 161-195. 

4. The Sosa Expedition. Dorothy Hull, " Castafio de Sosa's Expedi- 
tion to New Mexico in 1590," in Old Santa Fe, III (Oct., 1916), 307-332. 

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Give an account of the fitting out and equipment of the Coronado 
expedition. Who was the guide? What route did it follow? 

2. What did the Spaniards find at Zufii? What name did they give to 
the place? How did the Zufiis regard them? Why? 

3. Who discovered the Moqui province? The Grand Canyon? What 
do you know about the Grand Canyon? 

4. Why did Alvarado go east to the Rio Grande and out on the plains? 
Who was Bigotes? The Turk? Would you have believed their stories? 

5. Where did Coronado's army spend the first winter? Were they jus- 
tified in taking the Indians' houses and goods? In their punishment of 
the Indians for the revolt? Why? 

6. What caused Coronado to go to the eastern plains in 1541? Why 
did the main army soon return to Tiguex? How did they spend the 
summer ? 

7. Where was Quivira? What did Coronado find there? 

8. How did his men spend the winter of 1541-1542? Why did they re- 
turn to New Spain? 

9. Trace the route of Coronado's journey on your map, naming the im- 
portant places visited. Did he fail? Was his treatment by the viceroy 
just? Why? 

10. Who were the first missionaries to the Pueblos? Where were their 
headquarters? What became of them? Who was Juan de Padilla? 

n. What changes took place in the frontier of New Spain between 1542 
and 1581? How did the name "New Mexico" originate? When? 

12. What were the objects of the Rodriguez expedition? Why was the 
new route better than the old one? What country was explored? 

13. Tell about the work of Rodriguez, L6pez, and Santa Maria. 



EXPLORATION AND CONQUEST 43 

14. What were the chief objects of the Espejo expedition? Who were 
the leading spirits in it? Draw a map of the regions explored. What 
name did they give to the country ? Why ? 

15. Trace on your map the new route opened by Espejo as he returned 
to New Spain. 

16. What report did Espejo make of the country? What did he propose 
to do? 

17. Tell about the expedition of Castafio de Sosa. Why did he fail? 
Trace his route on your map. 

18. Who were Humana and Bonilla? What became of their expedition ? 



CHAPTER IV 
PERMANENT SETTLEMENT, 1598-1609 

48. The Call of the North. — The expeditions of Friar 
Marcos, Coronado, Rodriguez, Espejo, Sosa, and others 
had aroused so much interest in this northern country 
that it could not remain long unoccupied. The hope of 
planting a permanent settlement died in Sosa only to be 
born anew in others of his countrymen. Their patriotism, 
missionary zeal, and love of pioneering all spurred them on. 

49. Juan de Ofiate. — Espejo 's report on the mineral 
prospects and other resources of the region had attracted 
the attention of Juan de Ofiate, a wealthy miner of Zacatecas. 
His father, the famous Cristobal de Ofiate, a pioneer in the 
new, rich mining region of Zacatecas, was one of the most 
extensive mine operators in New Spain. Born in northern 
Mexico, probably in Zacatecas, in the first generation 
after the conquest, Ofiate inherited the spirit and tradi- 
tions of the frontier in an age when pioneering and conquest 
had become the ruling passion of his race. His wife was 
a granddaughter of Cortes and a great-granddaughter of 
Montezuma II, the last Aztec emperor. 

50. His Plans for Colonization. — Backed by wealth 
and influence, Ofiate applied to Viceroy Luis de Velasco 
(Va-las'ko) for authority to colonize New Mexico. Finding 
the government empty-handed and unwilling to incur the 
expense of new northern ventures, he offered to fit out the 
expedition and employ two hundred soldiers at his own 

44 



PERMANENT SETTLEMENT 45 

expense. The friendly Viceroy Velasco accepted his prop- 
osition, September 15, 1595, and gave him a government 
subsidy with the usual grant of privileges and exemptions 
of first settlers to the colonists who should go with him. 

A few weeks later a new and unfriendly viceroy came into 
office, and the opposition of Onate's jealous rivals nearly 
wrecked the whole enterprise; but on February 28, 1596, 
the new viceroy approved the contract. A few weeks 
later Onate and his followers left Mexico City for the north. 
One official inspection or investigation after another so 
delayed their progress that it was December, 1597, when 
they reached the Santa Barbara mines on the Conchos 
River. 

51. The Journey to New Mexico. — February 7,1598, 
nearly two years after leaving Mexico City, the army of 
soldiers and settlers, numbering about four hundred, left 
Santa Barbara. There were a hundred and thirty soldiers, 
some of whom had their wives and children. Ten Fran- 
ciscan missionaries under Father Alonso Martinez (mar- 
te'nas) soon joined them. The baggage and supply train 
of eighty- three wagons and carts, with seven thousand head 
of stock driven on foot, brought up the rear of the long ; 
slow-moving procession that turned away into the northern 
wilderness. 

Leaving the Conchos River route on the right, Onate 
took a still more direct route straight north to the Rio 
Grande, just below modern El Paso. When he crossed 
to the east bank, May 4, he named the ford " El Paso del 
Norte." 

Onate then took a small escort and went ahead to ex- 
amine the country. The main body of the colonists fol- 
lowed more slowly. A hint at their hardships as they 



46 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



crossed the terrible Jornada del Muerto (hor-na/tha del 
mwer'to), Journey of Death, from modern Fort Selden 
to Cutter may be gotten from the name " Socorro " (succor, 
aid) which the famished Spaniards applied to one of the 
villages up the river because the natives there supplied 
them with corn. 

52. First Settlement at San Juan. — After stopping at 
Santo Domingo and holding a parley with seven Indian 
chiefs representing thirty-four pueblos, Ofiate sent his 




ONATE'6 

EXPLORATIONS 

1598-1609 



nephew, Captain Vicente de Zaldivar (ve-sen'-ta da sal-de r - 
var), back down the Rio Grande to bring up the colonists 
while he himself moved on up the river to the pueblo of 
Caypa (ki'pa), which the Spaniards renamed "San Juan de 
los Caballeros " (ka-ba-ya'ros) , Saint John of the Cavaliers, 
in memory of the " knightly band of original settlers." 

When Onate took up headquarters by the pueblo of San 
Juan, July n, 1598, he was beginning the permanent settle- 
ment of New Mexico. Five weeks later (August 18) the 
main body of colonists arrived and pitched camp near San 



PERMANENT SETTLEMENT 47 

Juan, the first capital of New Mexico. Here in a fertile 
spot on the east bank of the Rio Grande, thirty miles north 
of Santa Fe, they were planting the second permanent colony 
in the present United States — nine years before Captain 
John Smith landed at Jamestown and more than two 
decades before the Pilgrims came to Plymouth. 

While waiting for the arrival of his colonists, Governor 
(Mate visited the near-by pueblos of Taos, San Ildefonso, 
San Marcos, San Cristobal, Pecos, Galisteo (ga-les-ta/6), 
Santo Domingo, Sia, and Jemez and received their promises 
of friendship. Returning to San Juan, he and his men, as- 
sisted by fifteen hundred Indians, began the construction 
of an irrigation ditch for " the city of San Francisco " — 
a name which the friars had applied to their proposed new 
settlement. 

53. Founding the First Missions. — Five days after 
the settlers arrived they began the building of a church. 
It was completed in two weeks and dedicated September 8 
— the first Christian temple in the western portion of the 
United States. 

The next day (September 9) Onate held a grand council 
at San Juan. The Pueblo chiefs from all the region came 
and made their submission and agreed to receive Christian 
missionaries. The province was divided into seven mission 
districts, including the whole Pueblo region from Taos to 
San Marcial and even Zufii and far-off Moqui as well as 
the country of the bloodthirsty Apaches and Navajos. 

Then eight Franciscan missionaries went out to take 
charge of these dangerous posts separated from each other 
by miles of trackless forest or burning desert, with no pro- 
tection nor even the comforting sight of a familiar face. 
There was always danger from Indian violence; and the 



48 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

improvidence of the Indians made starvation a constant 
menace to the missionary who was dependent upon them. 

54. The First Winter at San Juan. — The first winter 
at San Juan, like the first winter at Jamestown and Plym- 
outh, was a hard one. The colonists arrived late in a 
season of great drouth when the crops of the Indians had 
been almost a complete failure. Even the friendly San 
Juan Indians did not have a food supply large enough for 
themselves and the newcomers. A few of the settlers 
became discouraged and returned to New Spain. 

Other troubles were due to mischief makers. Mutiny 
broke out among the soldiers in the very first month of the 
colony. Dissatisfied because they did not find " whole 
plates of silver lying on the ground " and because Onate 
would not let them maltreat the Indians, they formed a 
gang to flee to New Spain. Four of them did steal some 
horses and flee to Santa Barbara. 

On the whole, however, the settlers stood firm. Of the 
same sturdy stock that had conquered New Spain, they 
had the courage to face the hardships of planting a new 
colony in the unbroken wilderness of New Mexico. 

55. Exploration in the Fall of 1598. — The geography 
of the continent was yet largely unknown. New Mexico 
was supposed to be near the northern strait connecting the 
Atlantic and Pacific. The colony was regarded as an im- 
portant base for northern exploration. With the colony 
established and the missions located, Onate, therefore, 
turned his attention to the lands beyond. 

In September (1598) he sent Captain Vicente de Zaldivar 
with sixty men to the eastward by way of Apache Canyon, 
Pecos, and the Canadian River to about the present east- 
ern boundary of the State. Without waiting for the re- 



PERMANENT SETTLEMENT 49 

turn of this party the Governor himself went south by 
Canada (ka-nya'tha) and San Marcos to the salt lakes in 
Torrance County, then turned west across the Manzano 
Mountains by Abo and Puaray to Acoma, Zuni, and Moqui. 
From Moqui he sent Captain Marcos Farfan (far-fan') 
into western Arizona to search for the mines reported by 
Espejo (sec. 41). Farfan's report runs: "They are so 
long and wide that half of the people of New Spain can 
have mines there." 

56. The Revolt of Acoma. — As Ofiate started back from 
Zuni in December to spend Christmas with his colony at 
San Juan he learned of the first disastrous encounter of his 
men with the Pueblos. 

As he went west in October the famous old sky city of 
Acoma had received him without resistance and had prom- 
ised allegiance to the Spaniards. Now he learned that 
the Acomas had risen in revolt and murdered Captain 
Juan de Zaldivar and many of his men, who had started 
west to join the Governor's expedition. The few who 
escaped bore the news to Ofiate, who was returning from 
Arizona, and to the wives and friends of the murdered 
men at San Juan. 

57. The Punishment of Acoma. — What would the 
Spaniards do with Acoma? The Indians were waiting for 
the answer to that question before making their next move. 
The bloody Acomas must be punished or New Mexico 
must be abandoned. Christmas festivities were forgotten. 
A solemn council of war reached a quick decision. Vicente 
de Zaldivar, brother of the murdered Captain, took seventy 
picked men and set out to punish Acoma, one of America's 
strongest natural fortresses. They began the attack on 
the morning of January 22, 1599. The fight lasted two 



50 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

whole days and part of the third. At first the advantage 
was with the Acomas. But when the Spaniards gained the 
top of the cliff, three hundred and fifty feet above the sur- 
rounding plain, the tide turned. By the close of the second 
day the pueblo was on fire and many of the braves were 
dead. On the morning of the third day the last of the in- 
habitants surrendered and were sent away to settle on the 
plains below. The City of the Sky was destroyed. 

Acoma, the impregnable fortress, had fallen. Hence- 
forth Onate met no organized resistance from the Indians 
of New Mexico. They had had their lesson. 

58. The Founding of San Gabriel. — The colony had 
passed its first winter and weathered its first storm. In 
the spring the Governor made a long report to the viceroy, 
praising the country as a place for permanent settlement 
and asking for large reinforcements. 

Soon the colony moved from San Juan across to the west 
side of the Rio Grande and founded San Gabriel (san ga- 
bryal'), the second capital. The exact date is not known. 
When Onate made his report to the viceroy, March 2, 1599, 
he was still at San Juan ; two years later a colonist named 
Luis de Velasco wrote a complaint against Ofiate's rule, 
dated " San Gabriel, March 22, 1601." The change was, 
therefore, made between those dates. 

59. Oiiate's Quivira Expedition, 1601. — In June, 1601, 
Onate found the opportunity for carrying out a plan he had 
long cherished of going to Quivira. With seventy or eighty 
soldiers and numerous servants he took the old trail of 
Captain Zaldivar (sec. 55) by Pecos and the Canadian 
Valley to the Arkansas and across into eastern Kansas, 
where Coronado had gone sixty years before. Joseph, 
the survivor of the Humana expedition (sec. 47), went with 



PERMANENT SETTLEMENT 5 1 

him as guide and interpreter. The journey accomplished 
nothing beyond getting more information about the plains 
country and its inhabitants. 

60. Abandonment of the Colony. — The absence of the 
Governor, however, gave free opportunity for the mal- 
contents at San Gabriel to stir up trouble. When he re- 
turned, November 24, he found his colony almost aban- 
doned. Many of the colonists and all of the missionaries 
except Aloriso Martinez, the commissary, had gone to the 
Santa Barbara mines and elsewhere. Captain Vicente de 
Zaldivar followed them, secured new missionaries and 
settlers, and brought back some of the deserters. Renewed 
energy brought prosperity and contentment in the colony 
and left the Governor free to entertain new plans of ex- 
pansion. 

61. Oiiate Goes to the South Sea. — In the fall of 1604 
Ofiate gathered about him thirty horsemen and two priests 
and set out (October 7) on an expedition to the Pacific 
Ocean. Following the old trail of Coronado, Espejo, and 
Farfan, he crossed Arizona to the Colorado River, called 
by the Spaniards the River of Good Hope, also the Rio 
Tizon (te-son'). Firebrand River, because " Always when 
these Indians travel they carry a lighted firebrand in the 
hand." 

Following down the Colorado, Ofiate reached the Gulf 
of California January 25, 1605, and took possession in the 
name of Spain. Four days later the party began the return 
journey, on which they saved themselves from starvation 
only by killing and eating their horses. April 25 they 
reached San Gabriel " all sound and well and not a man 
missing." 

62. The Retirement of Ofiate, 1608. — This was Onate's 



52 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

last great expedition as governor and captain general of 
New Mexico. His arduous campaigns and exacting duties 
as head of the infant colony had worn him out. The huge 
sums of money that he had paid out of his own private 
fortune had reduced him to poverty. Yet the colony was 
in great need of reinforcements that never came from 
Mexico City. In despair, therefore, he asked to be relieved 
of his office. 

As he passes quietly from the scene, let us remember his 
great achievements. He had laid the corner stone of the 
State ; had guided the colony through the first ten years 
of its infancy ; had organized the first mission system among 
the New Mexican Indians ; had explored New Mexico and 
the Southwest as extensively as Coronado, Esjepo, and all 
the rest of his predecessors combined ; and had blazed the 
trail to the Gulf of California. 

63. The Founding of Santa Fe. 1 — Governor Onate's 
letter of resignation to the viceroy was written from his 
capital at San Gabriel, August 24, 1607. February 27 
of the following year (1608) the viceroy appointed Juan 
Martinez de Montoya (mon-to'ya), of San Gabriel, as 
temporary governor. The Cabildo (ka-bel'do), or council 
of citizens, at San Gabriel refused to recognize him and 
elected Onate in his place. But the colonizer refused to 
serve, and they elected his son, Cristobal Onate. A year 
later the viceroy appointed Pedro de Peralta (pa' thro da 
pa-ral'ta) as governor and issued to him (March 30, 1609) 
instructions for the founding of a new capital so that the 
colony might " live with more regularity and permanence." 

1 For the data in this paragraph I am indebted to my friend, Professor Herbert E. Bolton, 
of the University of California, who has allowed me to use his unpublished monograph on 
The Last Years of Onate's Rule and the Founding of Santa Fe, based on new manuscript ma- 
terials which he discovered in the archives of Mexico. 



PERMANENT SETTLEMENT 53 

There is reasonable probability, therefore, that Santa Fe 
was founded in the latter part of the year 1609, and entire 
certainty that it was not founded before that time. The 
first positive proof of its existence yet discovered dates 
from October 3, 161 7. 

With the moving of the government to Santa Fe, the 
third capital, in a region less exposed to the depredations 
of the Navajos, San Gabriel sank into insignificance and has 
been almost forgotten. 

GENERAL READINGS 

H. H. Bancroft, History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1 10-158. 

W. W. H. Davis, The Spanish Conquest of New Mexico, 262-270. 

L. B. Prince, A Concise History of New Mexico, 92-105. 

B. M. Read, Illustrated History of New Mexico, 193-248. 

R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, I, 301-334. 

SPECIAL TOPICS 

1. Juan de Onate. B. Q. Cornish, "The Ancestry and Family of Juan 
de Onate," in The Pacific Ocean in History, 452-466. 

2. The Founding of the Colony. H. E. Bolton, Spanish Exploration 
in the Southwest, 1 542-1706 ("Original Narratives" Series), 197-222. 

3. Onate's Explorations. H. E. Bolton, Same as above, 223-280. 

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. After so many failures, why did not the Spaniards give up this region? 
Would you have done so? 

2. Why did Onate succeed where so many others had failed? Why was 
he willing to pay so much of the expense? 

3. Give an account of his journey to New Mexico. Where is the Jor- 
nada del Muerto ? How did Socorro get its name ? 

4. Locate the first settlement? How did Onate and his men spend the 
first fall? 

5. Give an account of the founding of the missions, the hardships of the 
missionaries. 

6. Why is the first winter in a new colony usually a hard time? What 
troubles were there at San Juan? 



54 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



7. Trace out on your map the regions explored by Onate, Zaldivar, and 
Farfan in the fall of 1598. 

8. Why must the revolt of Acoma be quickly punished? What effect 
did it have? 

9. When was San Gabriel founded? 

10. What was the object of Ofiate's Quivira expedition? What did it 
accomplish? Trace the route on your map. 

11. What were the colonists doing during that time? 

12. Give an account of Ofiate's journey to the South Sea. Trace his 
route. 

13. Why did he resign as governor? When? Was he as great a man 
as Captain John Smith? Greater? Why? 

14. About what time was Santa Fe founded ? Where was the first capi- 
tal? Second? Third? 



CHAPTER V 

EXPANSION AND OVERTHROW, 1609-1680 
I. INTERNAL DEVELOPMENT 

64. New Point of View. — To understand the slow 
growth of the colony during the seventeenth century and 
the apparent neglect of its interests by the government 
at Mexico City, we must keep in mind certain important 
facts, (i) The Spanish authorities were interested in 
New Mexico as a northern outpost of Spanish power far 
up in the heart of the continent as a base of operations for 
further explorations. (2) The miners and adventurers 
of New Spain came to the colony in search of quick wealth 
and honors. (3) The Franciscans looked upon it as a 
new field to be won for the Catholic faith. Experience, 
however, quickly showed that as a source of easily gotten 
gold, such as the conquerors had found in Mexico and Peru, 
New Mexico was a disappointment. As a mining enter- 
prise it was a failure. The colony became, therefore, 
primarily a venture in missionary work and northern 
exploration, neither of which called for large numbers of 
people. 

65. Growth of the Missions. — With one brief interrup- 
tion in the winter of 1601 (sees. 59, 60), the work of the 
missions went steadily forward from the time of their 
foundation by Onate in the very first days of the colony 
(sec. 53). They received from the government a small 
amount of support in the way of supplies for the missionary 

55 






56 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



and his Indian wards. These supplies, supposed to be 
sent by pack train from the older portions of New Spain 
every three years, frequently did not come for five or six 
years at a time ; and the missionaries had to depend largely 
on themselves and the improvident Indians. 

66. Father Benavides, First Custodian. — In 162 1 Father 
Alonso Benavides (ba-na-ve'thas) came to New Mexico 
as the first custodian, or general supervisor, of the missions. 
With him came twenty-six new friars. Under his leader- 
ship the baptizing of the Indians went rapidly forward. 
When he left the province in 1629, he reported a Chris- 
tianized native popula- 
tion of 60,000 souls 
living in ninety pueblos 
grouped into twenty- 
five missions with no 
less than fifty churches. 
These figures, how- 
ever, like those of all the 
other early explorers and 
settlers (sees. 38, 44), are 
greatly exaggerated ; for 
the entire Pueblo popu- 
lation at the beginning 
of the seventeenth cen- 
tury was only about 
25,000 (sec. 5). 
67. The First Church 
Old San Miguel Church, Santa Fe j n § an t a Fe. In the 

Memorial on New Mexico which Father Benavides presented 
to the Spanish king in 1630, he says of the " Villa of Santa Fe, 
the head of this Kingdom " : " There lacked only the prin- 




EXPANSION AND OVERTHROW 57 

cipal [thing], which was the church. The one they had 
was a poor hut, for the religious attended first to building 
the churches for the Indians they were converting and with 
whom they were ministering and living. And so, as soon 
as I came in as Custodian [1622] I commenced to build 
the church and monastery — and to the glory of God our 
Lord, it would shine in whatsoever place." 

68. Mission Churches and Schools. — The mission 
churches at the pueblos were built by the Pueblo women, 





Spanish Mission Church at Acoma Begun about 1630 

boys, and girls, while the men wove blankets, fought, 
hunted, and gave occasional assistance in putting the heavy 
beams into place. Each mission was intended to be not 
only a church but also a school for teaching the Indians 
reading, writing, singing, and the manual arts and crafts. 
In his primitive workshop the missionary taught the na- 
tives how to spin and weave and to do both useful and 
ornamental work in wood and metal. 

69. Development of the Colony. — Throughout this 
era (1 609-1 680) Santa Fe was the only Spanish villa, or 



58 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

incorporated town, in New Mexico. Santa Cruz de la 
Canada, north of Santa Fe, was the only other " settlement" 
in 1680. Population grew with exceeding slowness. In 
161 7 there were but forty-eight white men in New Mexico. 
Then the Spanish government was stirred to give some aid 
in order to save the colony, and by 1630 Santa Fe had a 
Spanish population of two hundred and fifty with fifty 
half-breeds and seven hundred Indian servants. 

As the years went by and settlers continued to come, 
they scattered out in the fertile valleys along the Rio 
Grande from Taos to Isleta, not realizing the necessity 
for settling in small compact groups for self-protection. 
For the Pueblo Indian had not yet proved how dangerous 
he was : his efforts at rebellion had been easily suppressed. 

By 1680 the population had grown to about 2,800, 
somewhat more than half of it in the lower valley around 
modern Albuquerque, the remainder in the Santa Fe 
region and the upper valley. 

70. The Founding of El Paso del Norte, 1659. — Be- 
tween the struggling colony of New Mexico and the northern 
settlements of New Biscay (now Chihuahua) lay five or 
six hundred miles of uninhabited wilderness — a danger- 
ous gap to leave unfilled. As the missions of New Biscay 
gradually pushed northward into this region the New 
Mexicans struck south and founded the mission of Guada- 
lupe (gwa-tha-loo'pa) del Paso, 1659, on the west bank of 
the Rio Grande where Juarez (hwa/ras) now stands. The 
corner stone of its first church was laid in 1662. 

II. FRONTIER EXPLORATION AND TRADE 

71. Widening the Frontiers. — While the friars were 
spreading the influence of the Church over the Pueblo 



EXPANSION AND OVERTHROW 



59 



country from Taos to San Marcial and from Pecos to Zuni 
and Moqui, and the settlers were taking possession of the 
Rio Grande Valley, the soldiers and traders were extending 
their knowledge of the surrounding regions. In this they 
were heartily seconded by the friars because it extended 
the field of mission work. 

In 1630 Father Benavides urged the opening of an over- 
land route from Santa Fe to Matagorda Bay on the Gulf 











isJ \ V II *v/ — A '^AkLf*'"'**"""^"^ U 




V\\ CHI«HUAHUA\ 9^*^0RttA V 




} \ v ci >n 




1630 







Benarides's Proposed Route to Santa Fe 
coast in order to secure a shorter and more direct route 
.from Havana to New Mexico and to avoid the long and 
difficult overland journey from Mexico City north. 

In 1634 Captain Alonso Baca led an expedition eight 
hundred miles to the northeast in search of Quivira; and 
throughout the century New Mexican frontiersmen traded 
at El Cuartelejo (elkwar-ta-la/ho), an Apache village north 
of the Arkansas. 

72. Expansion into the Texas Country. — In 1629 
Fathers Salas (sa'las) and Lopez with a few soldiers went 
a hundred leagues southeast of Santa Fe to the country 



6o 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



of the friendly Jumano Indians. Again in 1632 other 
friars journeyed through the same region two hundred 
leagues (more than 500 miles) and worked for six months 
among the Jumanos on the upper waters of the Colorado 
River of Texas. For the next fifty years, until the Pueblo 
Rebellion in 1680 (sees. 76-81), New Mexican traders 
visited this region regularly. 

In 1650 and again in 1654 important military and trad- 
ing expeditions from Santa Fe, the first under Captains 




TRADE AND EXPANSION 

IN THE 

3EVENTEEMH CENTURY 



Hernando Martin and Diegc del Castillo, the latter un- 
der Diego de Guadalajara (gwa-tha-la-ha/ra), visited the 
Jumanos and went on down the Colorado to the land of 
the Tejas (ta/has) Indians. 

73. The Mendoza-Lopez Expedition into Texas, 1684. — 
When the Pueblo Rebellion of 1680 (sees. 76-81) drove 
the Spaniards out of New Mexico, it also broke up their 
trade with^the Jumanos. Three years later these Indians 



EXPANSION AND OVERTHROW 6 1 

came to the New Mexicans in the El Paso region (sec. 82) 
and asked that traders and missionaries be sent again 
to their people and the Tejas. The next spring an expedi- 
tion under Captain Dominguez (do-men' gas) de Mendoza 
and Father Nicolas (ne-ko-las') Lopez went east into 
Texas and traded, preached, and baptized among the 
Jumanos and Tejas of the Colorado River country most 
of the summer. 

The viceroy became so interested in the region that he 
was planning to plant a permanent settlement there, 
when the landing of La Salle (la sal') at the mouth of the 
Lavaca (la-va/ka) River suddenly transferred Spanish in- 
terest from New Mexico and western Texas to the Gulf 
coast. 

74. Trade Route to the Gila Country. — Expansion in 
another direction has been almost forgotten. New Mexican 
missionaries from the Socorro region began to work among 
the Gila Apaches as early as 1629. Soon a regular overland 
trade grew up between the New Mexican settlements and 
the Pima (pe'ma) Indians of the Gila and San Pedro valleys 
in southeastern Arizona, the New Mexicans bartering cloth, 
blankets, and knives for maize. 

75. Summary on Expansion. — Thus, in addition to the 
ordinary affairs of colonial and missionary development, 
the New Mexican pioneers in the first three quarters of 
the seventeenth century had explored the country west 
to the Colorado River, north and east to the Arkansas 
and central Oklahoma, southeast to the middle Colorado 
and Brazos rivers in central Texas, and had definitely 
occupied the El Paso region. They were staking out a 
wide claim for the Spanish province of New Mexico. 



62 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

III. THE PUEBLO REBELLION 

76. Indian Discontent. — During this period of expan- 
sion and restless activity on the frontiers the development 
of the colony was hindered by bitter controversies between 
the Spanish political and religious authorities. A new 
danger, too, was appearing in the changed attitude of the 
Pueblo Indians. The services which they had rendered 
to the newcomers out of kindness in the early days of the 
colony were gradually systematized into tribute and forced 
labor which they were required to give. By 1630 they were 
supporting the colony at Santa Fe by tribute of cloth, 
corn, and other supplies, and seven hundred of them were 
" in service " there. The Spaniard had become a task- 
master, and the Indian was beginning to think of himself as 
a slave. Out of this situation trouble was sure to develop. 

There were religious difficulties too. Though the Indians 
in great numbers had accepted the forms of Christianity, 
their hearts were still pagan. Their tribal ceremonies 
and customs were born and bred in them. No mission- 
aries, however zealous, could wean them from the instinc- 
tive love for the pagan faith of their fathers. 

77. Trouble Brewing. — By the middle of the century 
they were ready to strike a murderous blow for the freedom 
which their fathers had enjoyed. Their plot with the 
Apaches for a general massacre of the Spaniards leaked 
out, and Governor Fernando Concha (fer-nan'do kon'cha) 
hanged nine of the leaders and sold others into slavery 
for ten years. Temporarily beaten, they sullenly waitep 
for a better opportunity. 

78. Plotting Rebellion. — In 1675 the governor hanged 
three of their medicine men for witchcraft and severely 






EXPANSION AND OVERTHROW 



63 



punished more than forty others. One of the number 
imprisoned was a San Juan Indian named Pope (po-pa/), 
who now began organizing the Pueblos to drive out the 
Spaniards. Driven from San Juan by the Spanish officials, 
he fled to Taos, where he received active assistance from 
Luis Tupatu (too-pa-too'), of Picuris (pe-koo-res'). None 
but the leaders were to know of their plans until they were 
ready to strike. August 11, 1680, was the appointed time. 




San Juan Pueblo To-day 

Swift runners carried the word throughout the Pueblo 
region. With the aid of the Apaches they would murder 
every priest, raid every ranch, and destroy the capital itself. 
79. The Uprising, August 10. — On August 9, two days 
before the time set for the uprising, the plot became known. 
Reports came to Governor Antonio de Otermin (6-tar- 
men') from Taos, Galisteo, and Pecos. Two Tesuque 
(ta-soo'ka) plotters were arrested, brought to Santa Fe, 



64 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

and made to tell their story under oath.. The blow, there- 
fore, must be struck at once or fail. Again swift messengers 
sped from pueblo to pueblo ; and in the early morning 
hours of Saturday, August 10, the slaughter began. 

It was a black Saturday for the Spaniards in New Mexico. 
Throughout the country to the north of Santa Fe very 
few escaped alive. Out of seventy in the Taos Valley only 
two got away. Down the river toward Isleta they fared 
somewhat better. Only about a hundred and twenty 
persons were killed there, while fifteen hundred escaped 
with the assistance of rescue parties organized by Alonso 
Garcia, the governor's lieutenant in that section. 

80. The Siege of Santa Fe. — The settlers in the Santa 
Fe region gathered in the capital and prepared for defense. 
August 15 the savage hordes, gathering from all directions, 
surrounded the village and sent to the governor two crosses, 
one white, the other red. If he chose the white cross and 
promised to abandon the country forever, he might go in 
peace. But if he chose the red one as a sign that the Span- 
iards intended to fight, the Indians meant to kill them to 
the last man. 

The governor prepared for the life-and -death struggle. 
The Indians cut off the water supply and besieged the 
town. Starvation soon stared the Spaniards in the face ; 
and early Tuesday morning, August 20, they rushed out, 
fell upon the sleeping Indians, killed three hundred, and 
took forty-seven captives. Fifteen hundred other braves 
fled to the hills. 

81. Departure of the Spaniards. — Still the situation 
of the Spaniards was critical. Their kinsmen down the 
river who had escaped were already on their way toward 
El Paso. All the others were dead. Bloodthirsty Pueblos 



EXPANSION AND OVERTHROW 65 

and their Apache allies haunted the country in every di- 
rection. The next day (August 21) Governor Otermin 
and his little band of about a thousand men, women, and 
children moved out to the southwest, most of them on foot 
and carrying all their possessions in little bundles on their 
backs. The Indians watched them from the surrounding 
hills in stolid satisfaction and followed them seventy miles 
down the river to see that they kept moving on. 

Havoc had been wrought throughout New Mexico. The 
Indians had not spared men, women, or children. Their 
victims numbered more than four hundred, including twenty- 
one Franciscan missionaries. 

82. El Paso Becomes the Capital, 1680-1693. — In 
October the refugees settled along the west bank of the 
Rio Grande by the mission of Guadalupe del Paso, New 
Mexico's southern outpost, which now became the official 
residence of her governor. It was New Mexico's fourth 
capital. The reconquest was to take many years. 

83. A Decade of Indian Freedom. — With the Spaniards 
gone the Pueblos began to celebrate their victory in true 
Indian fashion. Churches and altars were burned or 
torn down. Government records and everything that re- 
minded them of Christianity and the Spaniards were 
destroyed. Indians who had been baptized by the Chris- 
tian priests were publicly washed in the Santa Fe River 
to cleanse them of the stain. Christian marriages were 
annulled. The work of a century was undone. 

GENERAL READINGS 

H. H. Bancroft, History of Arizona and New Mexico, 157-185. 
W. W. H. Davis, The Spanish Conquest of New Mexico, 279-306. 
L. B. Prince, A Concise History of New Mexico, 105-114. 
B. M. Read, Illustrated History of New Mexico, 249-271. 



66 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, I, 335- 
367. 

SPECIAL TOPICS 

1. New Mexico in the Time of Benavides. Mrs. E. E. Ayer (tr.), 
The Memorial of Fray Alonso de Benavides, 1^30, Annotated by F. W. Hodge 
and C. F. Lummis ; J. H. Vaughan, History of Education in New Mexico, 
Chapter III. 

2. Explorations into Western Texas. H. E. Bolton, Spanish Ex- 
ploration in the Southwest, 1 542-1706 ("Original Narratives" Series), 311- 
344, contains a scholarly Introduction on the general subject of eastern ex- 
ploration, with a translation of the original narrative of the Mendoza-L6pez 
Expedition of 1684. 

3. The Pueblo Rebellion. C. W. Hackett, "The Revolt of the Pueblo 
Indians of New Mexico in 1680," in The Quarterly of the Texas State His- 
torical Association, XV. (Oct., ion), 93-147. 

4. The Departure of the Spaniards. C. W. Hackett, " Retreat of 
the Spaniards from New Mexico in 1680, and the Beginnings of El Paso," 
in Southwestern Historical Quarterly, XVI (Oct., 1912-Jan., 1913), 137- 
168, 259-276. 

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. What were the chief interests that led to the settlement of New Mexico ? 
Why did the colony grow so slowly? 

2. How were the missions supported? What else did the missionaries 
do besides teaching religion? Who was Father Alonso Benavides? 

3. What do we know about the first church in Santa Fe? 

4. How much did the population increase by 1680? Where did the 
settlers live ? 

5. Why was El Paso del Norte settled by New Mexico? When? 

6. Why was a route from New Mexico to the Texas coast desired ? 

7. What were the principal objects of the numerous expeditions into 
western Texas? Give an account of the Mendoza-Lopez expedition. 
Point out the routes traveled and regions visited. 

8. What was the interest of the New Mexicans in the Gila country of 
Arizona? 

9. What were the chief causes of the Pueblo Rebellion? What was the 
plan? How far did it succeed ? 

10. Describe the siege of Santa Fe and the departure of the Spaniards. 
Where was the fourth capital ? 

11. How did the Indians use their freedom? 



CHAPTER VI 



RECONQUEST AND NORTHEASTERN EXPANSION, 1680-1762 

84. Efforts to Reconquer New Mexico. — When the 
Spaniards from New Mexico reached the El Paso region 
in the fall of 1680 (sec. 
82), they learned that the 
Indians of Sonora and 
New Biscay were showing 
signs of restlessness and 
unusual activity. The re- 
maining years of the cen- 
tury were to be a period 
of Indian uprisings and 
disturbances along the 
whole northern frontier of 
New Spain. New Mexico 
had experienced the first 
and most violent of them. 
If the Pueblo revolt went 
unpunished, there was 
danger that it might en- 
courage others. 

During the next ten 
years, therefore, many 
attempts were made to 
reconquer the province, 
but without success. 

85. The Coming of De Vargas. — In 1690 the viceroy 
appointed Don Diego de Vargas (var'gas) governor of 

67 




The Coat of Arms of Governor De 
Vargas 



68 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

New Mexico. In August, 1692, he set out from El Paso 
with three hundred men for the reconquest. September 
13, they surrounded the villa of Santa Fe, now an Indian 
pueblo, cut off its water supply and all communication, 
and demanded its surrender. The red men blustered and 
threatened, but surrendered before night. 

De Vargas then journeyed through the who.e Pueblo 
region north to Taos and west to Zuni and Moqui. Every- 
where the natives surrendered without resistance. At 
Zuni he found the vestments of the priests and other sacred 
property of the church — the only relics of Christianity 
in New Mexico that had survived the Rebellion. Without 
fighting a battle or losing a man, except in an encounter 
with the Apaches, he returned to El Paso before Christmas. 

86. The Reoccupation, 1693. — After long delays De 
Vargas got together eight hundred colonists and a hundred 
soldiers at El Paso and started north for the permanent 
reoccupation of the country in October of the following 
year (1693). December 19 they entered the plaza at 
Santa Fe without opposition. The soldiers were garrisoned 
on the hill, and the colonists camped near by. All were 
suffering from the bitter cold, and De Vargas ordered the 
Indians to vacate the town. Instead, they closed the 
gates and barricaded every entrance. The Governor 
promptly assaulted the place with his whole force. On 
the second day the Indians surrendered. The Pueblo 
governor had already hanged himself. Seventy of his 
braves were now executed, and four hundred of the women 
and children delivered up as servants to the Spanish 
families. 

87. Later Uprisings. — The bloody scenes that closed 
the year 1693 were Dut the beginning of the Pueblos' efforts 



RECONQUEST AND NORTHEASTERN EXPANSION 69 

to shake off Spanish control before it became firmly es- 
tablished. Most of the central and northern pueblos were 
in a state of insurrection throughout the coming year. 
The Governor and his small force were kept busy holding 
them in subjection. 

Again in 1696 the Pueblos rose in revolt and murdered 
six or seven missionaries and about twenty other Spaniards. 
Taos, Picuris, Cochiti (ko-che-te'), Santo Domingo, Jemez, 
and Acoma had to be punished before they would quit the 
warpath. Soon, however, the Pueblos recognized that 
they were beaten. Thenceforth they gave little trouble. 

88. Development of the Missions. — Sixteen or seven- 
teen missionaries came with De Vargas in the fall of 1693. 
By the end of the following year they were able to rees- 
tablish mission work in at least eighteen pueblos. Church 
building and mission extension made steady progress. In 
1708-1710 the Chapel of San Miguel in Santa Fe, ruined 
by the Pueblos in 1680, was restored by Governor Pefiuela 
(pa-nwa/la). By 1750 there were more than 10,000 bap- 
tized Indians. When the Bishop of Durango visited the 
province in 1760 he confirmed 11,271 in New Mexico proper 
and 2,973 m the El Paso district. 

Yet the missions did not flourish. The friars' limited 
knowledge of the Indian languages was a constant handi- 
cap. The old ugly quarrel between the friars and the 
political officials over the control of Indians at the missions 
went on with increasing bitterness. To make matters worse 
the officials forced the Indians to work without pay and 
practically enslaved many of them. 

89. Paganism and Witchcraft. — Pagan rites flourished 
as before the Pueblo Rebellion. Medicine men claiming 
supernatural powers were able to appeal to the fears of 



70 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

the superstitious Pueblos. In the effort to deal with these 
" witches " in the early eighteenth century, witchcraft 
trials became somewhat frequent in New Mexico soon 
after they died out in New England. A favorite punish- 
ment for the witches was to make them servants in Spanish 
families. 

90. The Founding of La Canada and Albuquerque. — 
Two years after the Reconquest a new Spanish town of 
seventy families, Santa Cruz de la Canada, was founded 
(1695) m the Rio Grande Valley thirty miles north of 
Santa Fe. About the same time small settlements, called 
poblaciones (po-bla-syo'nas), were begun at Los Cerrillos 
(los sa-re'yos) and Bernalillo. 

Francisco Cuervo (kwar'vo), who succeeded De Vargas 
as temporary governor, hit upon the idea of perpetuating 
his name by founding a new settlement and naming it for 
himself and the viceroy, the Duke of Alburquerque. In 
1706 he located about thirty Spanish families in the Rio 
Grande Valley sixty miles southwest of Santa Fe, naming 
the place " San Francisco de Alburquerque." The viceroy 
ordered the " San Francisco " changed to " San Felipe " 
(fa-le'pa) in honor of King Philip of Spain. The third 
Spanish colonial town, therefore, became San Felipe de 
Alburquerque. Succeeding generations dropped the first 
" r " out of Alburquerque, and later ones have dropped 
the " San Felipe." It is to-day the " Old Town " part of 
the city of Albuquerque. 

91. Slow Growth of the Colony. — During the first 
half of the century the colony grew slowly. Two thousand 
miles of Indian-haunted desert lay between Mexico City 
and Santa Fe. It took a caravan six months to make the 
journey. New Mexico was not an inviting field except 



RECONQUEST AND NORTHEASTERN EXPANSION 7 1 

for those rare pioneer spirits who loved the solitude of the 
wilderness and feared no danger. Year by year, however, 
new ranch houses appeared in the fertile valleys of the Rio 
Grande and its tributaries. In these valleys agriculture 
increased, while stock raising extended to the near-by hills 
and plains. 

The Spanish population, 1,500 in 1700, had grown to 
7,666 in the fourteen settlements north of the Jornada in 
1760, with 3,588 in the presidio (pra-se'dyo) and five 
missions of the El Paso district. Santa Fe numbered 1,285 > 
La Canada, 1,515; Albuquerque, 1,814. There were 
10,000 baptized Pueblos. 

92. Military Protection. — About the beginning of the 
year 1697 tne viceroy ordered the Santa Fe garrison 
strengthened to a hundred well-equipped soldiers. Eighty 
men, however, became the regular full strength of the 
Veteran Company at the capital — the only garrison in the 
province — and the actual number was generally much 
smaller. " Flying squadrons " of live or six mounted men 
were stationed at Santa Clara, Cochiti, Jemez, and Laguna 
(la-goo'na). That was all. Great reliance, therefore, 
had to be placed on the militia, or untrained citizen sol- 
diery, in every Indian campaign. 

To make the southern highway to El Paso safer the New 
Mexicans urged the necessity of establishing a presidio 
of fifty soldiers and two hundred settlers at Socorro and a 
presidio of fifty soldiers at Aguatuvi (a-gwa-too've) . The 
central government did nothing. Soon after 1770 the 
governor established a presidio of thirty soldiers and thirty 
settlers from El Paso at Robledo (ro-bla/tho) near modern 
Fort Selden, for protection against the Apaches in the 
region south of the Jornada. 



72 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

He also recommended the establishment of a new pre- 
sidio at the great trading center of Taos and the concentra- 
tion of the colonists into compact settlements as a means 
of protection. Their widely scattered settlements and 
ranches were too exposed to Indian attack. 

93. Indian Troubles. — All through the first half of 
the century the Indians were constantly on the warpath. 
The hand of the Apache was turned against everybody 
who came within his reach. From the Navajos and the 
Utes he received constant help against the white man. 
And the New Mexican settlements fared badly. 

At the beginning of the century (about 1700) the Co- 
manches began to drift in from the eastern plains and 
attack Pecos and Galisteo. In 1724 they swarmed into 
the country of the friendly Jicarilla (he-ka-re'ya) Apaches 
to the northeast of Santa Fe and killed most of the tribe. 
How Pecos suffered from their coming is best told by the 
decline of its population from about 2,000 in the seven- 
teenth century to 1,000 in 1749, 600 in 1760, and 189 in 
1797. The last members of the tribe abandoned the pueblo 
and went to their kinsmen at Jemez in 1838. 

Against all these enemies the governors and their troops, 
with assistance from the Pueblos and Spanish settlers, 
fought a long series of fruitless campaigns — fruitless be- 
cause it was impossible to catch and punish the wily savage 
in haunts which he knew better than the white man. As 
a result the campaigns had to be repeated year after year. 

94. The Coming of the French. — Throughout the 
seventeenth century (1600-1700) the Spanish province of 
New Mexico had a constant struggle with the Indians to 
maintain its existence, but it was undisturbed by other 
Europeans. At the opening of the eighteenth century, 



RECONQUEST AND NORTHEASTERN EXPANSION 73 

however, a new peril was ready to appear on the eastern 
frontier — the white man this time. 

The French had been working their way inland from the 
St. Lawrence to the Mississippi and down to the Gulf of 
Mexico. La Salle's colony (sec. 73) landed on the Texas 
coast just five years after the Pueblo Rebellion drove the 




THECOMJNG 

OF THE 

FRENCH 



Spaniards out of New Mexico (sees. 76-81). Two years 
later some of his renegade followers murdered him and were 
themselves taken prisoners to New Spain. Still later a 
few of them were with De Vargas in the reconquest of 
New Mexico in 1693 (sees. 85-86). Among these first 
Frenchmen in the colony was Jean de 1'Archeveque (zhan 
de larsh-vek'), one of the assassins of the great explorer. 



74 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

The old story of great mineral wealth in New Mexico had 
long ago reached France, and Frenchmen in America were 
keenly interested. In 1706, when Captain Juan Uribarri 
(60-re-bar're), on an expedition against the Utes and Co- 
manches, visited El Cuartelejo, he heard of Frenchmen 
among the Pawnees. In 1719, and again in 1 721, La Harpe 
(la arp') from Natchitoches (nak-i-tosh'), the western 
outpost of Louisiana, undertook trading expeditions to 
Santa Fe, first up the Red River and then up the Arkansas. 
It was clear that the French planned to control the trade 
of the northeastern frontier provinces of New Spain and 
eventually to extend their power over the whole region. 

95. Northeastern Expeditions of Valverde and Villasur. 
— The first counter move against this steady French ad- 
vance was made by Governor Antonio Valverde (val-ver'da). 
In the summer of 1719 he made a long campaign against 
the Utes and Comanches beyond the Arkansas almost to 
El Cuartelejo. On the Arkansas the Apaches told him 
of a recent . battle with the Kansas and Pawnee Indians, 
in which their enemies had been equipped with firearms 
and aided by the French, who had established settlements 
on the Platte River. 

The following spring (1720), under orders from the vice- 
roy, the Governor fitted out a small expedition of forty 
soldiers, sixty Pueblo Indians, and ten "or twelve servants 
under Captain Pedro Villasur (ve-ya-soor'} for the purpose 
of gathering information about French activity on the 
northeastern frontier. The Frenchman, Jean de TArche- 
veque, now a resident of New; Mexico for more than a 
quarter of a century , was taken along as interpreter: They 
.went by Taos,; La Jiearilla, and El • Cuartelejo •northeast- 
ward- to. the junction of the North .and _ South Platte in 



RECONQUEST AND NORTHEASTERN EXPANSION 75 

central Nebraska. Hearing nothing of the French, they 
prepared to return to New Mexico. As they were breaking 
camp on the morning of August 13 the Pawnee Indians, 
with firearms secured from French traders, fell upon them 
in a surprise attack and cut them to pieces, killing Villasur 
and forty-four others, including Archeveque and Friar 
Juan Martinez, the chaplain. Only thirteen survived to 
tell the story of the " Lost Expedition." 

News of this disaster reaching Santa Fe September 6 
threw the colonists into panic. They felt sure that the 
French were behind the whole plot and would soon attack 
New Mexico itself. They even considered abandoning 
the province. 

96. The End of Northeastern Expansion, 1727. — The 
next year (17 21), however, France and Spain made peace 
in Europe, and the government of New Spain soon gave 
up its projects of northeastern expansion. Henceforth 
the New Mexicans would have to work out their plans in 
that direction on their own resources. To make matters 
worse the Spanish government forbade (1723) all trade 
with the French and limited trade with the plains Indians 
to those who came to Taos and Pecos. Such a decree was 
not likely to be strictly obeyed in this remote region ; and 
the contest of Spaniard and Frenchman for the control 
of the great plains went on unchecked. 

97. The French Advance Continues. — The next French- 
men to reach New Mexico — the first to come across the 
plains from the east — were the Mallet (mal-le') brothers 
and seven or eight other Canadian fur traders who came 
from the Missouri and the Platte through Nebraska, 
Kansas, and southeastern Colorado to Taos and Santa Fe 
in 1739. Two of them stayed in New Mexico. The re- 



76 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

turn of the others the next spring, part of them across the 
plains to Illinois, the others down the Canadian and Ar- 
kansas to New Orleans, marked the beginning of a new 
epoch. They had come through the dangerous Indian 
country to New Mexico and returned in safety. More- 
over, they had carried back with them the first definite 
information about the trade and internal conditions of the 
province. 

Results were immediate and far-reaching. Heretofore 
the French advance had been primarily the work of the 
private trader and trapper. Now the French officials in 
Louisiana began to take an active interest in this region. 
The very next year (1741) Governor Bienville (byan-vel') 
sent out a party to open up trade with Santa Fe by way of 
the Arkansas and Canadian rivers, but they never reached 
Santa Fe. Again in 1751 St. Clair, the French commander 
at Fort Chartres, Illinois, sent out Jean Chapuis (sha-pwe') 
with a party of traders and a government license to open 
a regular overland trade route to Santa Fe, proposing a 
military escort through the Comanche country. Coming 
by way of the Platte River, Chapuis and one companion 
reached Santa Fe the following year (1752), only to have 
their goods confiscated and to be themselves sent on to 
prison in Mexico City and Spain. 

In the meantime Pierre Satren (pyer sa-tran') and two 
other French deserters, Febre (febr') and Riballo (re-ba'yo), 
came up the Arkansas to the Taos fair and down to Santa 
Fe in 1749. They stayed and worked at their trades. 
Other traders with the silent backing of their government 
were steadily gaining influence over the plains Indians by 
giving them French flags and presents and trading them 
firearms. The stealing of horses and mules from the 



RECONQUEST AND NORTHEASTERN EXPANSION 77 

New Mexican settlements and trading them to the French 
was becoming a regular Comanche enterprise. The Co- 
manches were frequently better equipped with horses and 
arms than were the Spanish soldiers who tried to defend 
the settlements against their raids. 

98. The Frontier Problem Changes, 1762. — Toward 
the close of the French and Indian War Spain received from 
France all of Louisiana west of the Mississippi. Its in- 
habitants now became Spanish subjects. The frontier 
problem of holding back the French and protecting the 
northeastern boundary ceased to exist. A contest for the 
trade of the plains took its place. Frenchman and Span- 
iard had each his own characteristic method of dealing 
with the Indians. The Spaniards had controlled the south- 
western tribes largely through the slow civilizing process, 
in which the missions were the chief instruments. The 
French among the wild tribes to the east had found the 
licensed trader a more effective means of control. In 
this new contest the Spaniards adopted the French policy 
of dealing with the wild tribes by giving them presents, 
presenting them flags, and furnishing them food to win 
their friendship and keep them hostile to all foreigners. 
The French peril had ceased to exist ; but a more danger- 
ous one, the English peril, must be guarded against. 

GENERAL READINGS 

H. H. Bancroft, History of Arizona and New Mexico, 186-254. 

W. W. H. Davis, The Spanish Conquest of New Mexico, 307-417. 

L. B. Prince, A Concise History of New Mexico, 1 14-126. 

B. M. Read, Illustrated History of New Mexico, 272-334. 

R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, I, 367-445. 



78 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



SPECIAL TOPICS 

i. Attempts at Reconquest. C. W. Hackett, "Otermfn's Attempt to 
Reconquer New Mexico, 1681-1682," in Old Santa Fe, III (Jan.-Apr., 
1916), 44-84, 103-132; "The Causes for the Failure of Otermin's Attempt 
to Reconquer New Mexico, 1681-1682," in The Pacific Ocean in History, 
439-451. 

2. Later Pueblo Disturbances. R. E. Twitchell {ed.), "The Pueblo 
Revolt of 1696" (Documents), in Old Santa Fe, III (Oct., 1916), 333-373. 

3. The El Paso District and the Southern Boundary of New 
Mexico. A. E. Hughes, "The Beginnings of Spanish Settlement in the 
El Paso District," in University of California Publications in History, I, 
295-392. 

4. The French Advance toward New Mexico. H. E. Bolton, " French 
Intrusions into New Mexico, 1749-175 2," in The Pacific Ocean in History, 
389-407; Texas in the Middle Eighteenth Century, 66-72; W. E. Dunn, 
"Spanish Reaction against the French Advance toward New Mexico, 
1717-1727," in Mississippi Valley Historical Review, II (Dec, 1915), 348- 
362. 

5. The Plains Indian Problem. H. E. Bolton (ed.), Athanase de Me- 
zieres and the Louisiana-Texas Frontier, 1768-1780. 2 vols. See especially 
the learned Historical Introduction on "The Indian in the History of the 
Louisiana-Texas Frontier, 1685-1780," I, 17-66. 

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1 . Give an account of the reconquest by De Vargas. How many colonists 
came with him to reoccupy the province in 1693? How were they received 
by the Indians at Santa Fe? 

2. Was there further trouble with the Pueblos ? When were the missions 
reestablished ? 

3. How do you explain belief in "witches"? Was it peculiar to New 
Mexico ? 

4. When was Albuquerque founded ? How aid it get its name ? 

5. As the colony grew where did the settlers go? How did they live? 
How large was the Spanish population in 1760? 

6. What military protection did the province have? In what other 
regions were garrisons especially needed ? Why did Taos need one ? 

7. What new enemies appeared at the beginning of the eighteenth century ? 
Where did they come from? Why did the campaigns against the Indians 
accomplish so little? 

8. Why were the French interested in New Mexico? What were some 
of their earliest ventures in this direction? 

9. What rivers would be helpful to them in getting to New Mexico ? See 
map. What influence does geography have on history? 



RECONQUEST AND NORTHEASTERN EXPANSION 79 

10. How did the Spaniards regard the French advance? What was the 
object of Valverde's expedition to the northeast? Villasur's? What was 
the effect of the "Lost Expedition" on New Mexico? 

11. Why did the Spajiish government give up its plans for northeastern 
expansion? Who were the first Frenchmen to reach New Mexico from the 
east? What effect did their journey have? 

12. How was the northeastern frontier problem changed after 1762? 
How did the New Mexicans then deal with the Indians in that region? 



CHAPTER VII 
THE CLOSE OF THE SPANISH ERA, 1762-1821 

99. The Indian Danger Continues. — The policy of 
frankly seeking the friendship of the plains Indians in 
order to control the trade of the plains (sec. 98) caused the 
last quarter of the eighteenth century to be a period of com- 
parative peace with those tribes. Yet it did not free the 
settlements from the constant danger of the Indian whose 
natural bent was to steal and murder. The Apaches on the 
lower Rio Grande and in the Magdalena Mountains were 
a constant menace to travelers over the highway toward 
El Paso. The Comanches could never be controlled; 
and when they swept in from the east for a raid, it was 
usually a bloody affair. 

100. Organization of the Interior Provinces, 1776. — 
To meet the constant Indian pressure on the northeastern 
frontier and to check the English advance in that same 
region Spanish officials planned a complete reorganization 
of the frontier. The first step was taken in 1772, when a 
new officer, known as the Inspector Comandante (ens-pek- 
tor' ko-man-dan'ta), or Chief Inspector, directly respon- 
sible to the viceroy and later to the commanding general 
of the Interior Provinces, was given general supervision of 
the whole line of frontier presidios from Texas to Cali- 
fornia and the direction of military campaigns in that 
region. It is interesting to recognize the good Irish name 
of Hugo Oconor as the first person to hold this important 
position in the defense of New Spain. 

80 



THE CLOSE OF THE SPANISH ERA 8 1 

In 1776 a new government called the Provincias Internets 
(pro-ven'syas en-ter'nas), or Interior Provinces, includ- 
ing originally Texas, Coahuila (kwa-we'la), New Mexico, 
New Biscay, Sinaloa, Sonora, and the Californias, was 
organized under a commanding general appointed by 
the king and independent of the viceroy. From his capi- 
tal at Chihuahua he controlled all political, military, and 
financial affairs within his wide dominions. Judicial 
matters, however, remained under the Audiencia (ow- 
dyan'sya), or high court of appeal, at Guadalajara. 

The Apaches and Comanches were needing prompt 
attention; and the first Commanding General, Teodoro 
de Croix (ta-6-tho'ro da krwa), self-styled " El Caballero 
de Croix," went about his task with a vigor worthy of the 
earlier days. 

101. First Attempt at Communication with California. — 
In July, 1776, the very year of the organization of the 
Interior Provinces, Fathers Escalante (es-ka-lan'ta) and 
Dominguez set out from Santa Fe with eight companions 
to find a trail to the new missions at Monterey, California. 
They went northwest up the valley of the Chama by 
Abiquiu. (a-be-ku'), across the upper San Juan Basin, 
through southwestern Colorado, across the Green and 
Grand rivers to Utah Lake in north central Utah, then 
southwest to Sevier (se-ver') Lake. But with the trail 
to California uncertain and winter rapidly approaching, 
they turned back by the Grand Canyon and Zuni and 
reached Santa Fe, January 3, 1777. This Old Spanish 
Trail from Santa Fe into central Utah became the first 
stage in the more famous Spanish Trail from Santa Fe 
to Los Angeles after 1830 (sec. 129). 

102. Communication with Other Colonies. — One of 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 




THE CLOSE OF THE SPANISH ERA 83 

the favorite projects of the commanding general of the 
Interior Provinces was to establish a complete system of 
communication among the provinces under his jurisdic- 
tion. In 1778 he sent Juan Bautista de Anza (an'sa), 
who had led the first overland expedition from Sonora to 
Upper California, as governor of New Mexico with special 
instructions to open direct communication between Santa 
Fe and Monterey on the California coast. Three years 
later (1781) he suggested that Anza undertake similar 
communication with Coahuila, northern Sonora, and San 
Antonio, Texas. New Mexico was becoming a center of 
operations. In the first and second of these projects 
nothing was accomplished. In the third, the route to 
Sonora, Anza took a hundred and fifty men to the south- 
west, hoping to reopen the old seventeenth century trade 
route (sec. 74) to the Gila country and the presidio of Santa 
Cruz. But he came out at Janos (ha nos) in New Bis- 
cay, a point too near El Paso to have any special value. 

103. The Trail to San Antonio. — The fourth venture was 
more successful — not for Anza, however ; for it was accom- 
plished by the Texans. Ever since the founding of San 
Antonio (17 18) the Spaniards had needed direct communi- 
cation between that point and Santa Fe, their two north- 
eastern outposts, both of which were subject to Indian danger 
and to pressure from the French in Louisiana until 1762. 

Finally in 1787 the trail from San Antonio north to the 
region of Wichita Falls, then up the Red and Canadian 
rivers, and on to Santa Fe, was traced by Pierre -%al 
(pyer ve-al'), called Pedro Vial "by the Spaniards, a French 
frontiersman .sent- out by the governor of : _- Texas .;_■•■_.. The 
foute was somewhat roundabout ; and Governor- Anza, 
wishing to use Vial _f or .another i : undertaking,, sent : out 



84 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



another party that same year under Jose Mares (ma'ras) 
to find a more direct route. Mares's outgoing trip made 
but little improvement on the route of Vial; but on the 




Primitive Mining 



return to Santa Fe the following spring he took a much 
more direct route across the upper Colorado and by the 
headwaters of the Brazos to Santa Fe. 



THE CLOSE OF THE SPANISH ERA 85 

104. The Route to Louisiana. — That summer (1788) 
Vial started out from Santa Fe to find a route to Natchi- 
toches, the great French center on the lower waters of the 
Red River. He went down the Red and across the upper 
Sabine (sa-ben'), spent the winter, and returned a year 
later. A trade route over this line had been the dream of 
La Harpe half a century before (sec. 94). 

105. Blazing the Santa Fe Trail, 1792. — Still there 
was no route to St. Louis in Spanish Louisiana ; and Pierre 
Vial's success in finding the routes to San Antonio and 
Natchitoches marked him as the best man for that under- 
taking. He left Santa Fe with two companions, May 21, 
1792, under orders from the governor to find a direct 
route to St. Louis. Going through Apache Canyon, Pecos, 
and the Las Vegas (las va/gas) country, he seems to have 
crossed the northeastern plains close to the route of the 
later famous Cimarron Cut-Off of the Santa Fe Trail 
(sec. 128) to the Arkansas River near modern Dodge City. 
He followed the Arkansas to Great Bend and then went 
northeast to the Kansas and the Missouri and down to 
St. Louis, October 6. 

He had experienced so many difficulties in getting through 
the Indian country that the journey had taken him all 
summer, and he had to wait until the following spring 
before he could return to Santa Fe. But he had traced 
much of the route of the later Santa Fe Trail, the most 
famous highway in southwestern history. Regular trade 
in that direction, however, did not begin until after the 
close of the Spanish era. 

106. New Interest in Mining. — Early discovery of the 
fact that New Mexico was not a rich and easy mining 
region (sec. 64) caused the principal energies of the colony 



86 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

to be spent in other directions. But in the wave of ex- 
pansion that characterized the last half of the eighteenth 
century, the mineral prospects of the country began to 
receive new attention. In 1765 Governor Cachupin sent 
Juan Maria Rivera (re-va/ra) with an exploring and pros- 
pecting party across the San Juan Basin and on up through 
the Gunnison and Uncompahgre (oon-kom-pa/gra) regions 
in western Colorado in search of precious metals. Before 




Old Spanish Fort at the Santa Rita Copper Mine 

the close of the century adventurous New Mexicans had 
prospected and tramped over much of the Rocky Moun- 
tain region as far north as southern Wyoming. 

Whatever may have been the decaying condition of the 
Spanish monarchy at home, this was a period of boundless 
energy on the northern frontier of New Spain. The New 
Mexicans were carrying out, on their own initiative, an anir 
bitious program of expansion and development. 

Yet there was little actual mining during the Spanish 
era. The Santa Rita copper mine, discovered about 1800, 
was not extensively worked until 1804. It was owned by a 
Chihuahua operator, and the ore was transported to Mexico 
City on pack mules. Lieutenant Pike in 1807 (sees. 111- 
112) said it was producing " twenty thousand mule loads 



THE CLOSE OF THE SPANISH ERA 87 

of copper annually." Mica was also mined near Santa Fe 
and Mora. 

107. Intrusions of the English. — When Spain acquired 
French Louisiana to the Mississippi in 1762, it looked as 
if her northeastern frontier problem had been solved ; for 
the French were the only foreigners who had been coming 
into that region seeking trade. But a new peril was about 
to appear. A few months later (1763) England acquired 
all of Louisiana east of the Mississippi and became Spain's 
next-door neighbor — a much stronger and more vigorous 
one than France. Though most of her American colonists 
still lived en the Atlantic slope, they were soon to be pouring 
through the passes of the Appalachian Mountains and 
swarming down the valleys of the Tennessee, the Cumber- 
land, and the Ohio, to look out across the Father of Waters 
for still wider lands. 

By 1775 English frontiersmen were trading with the 
Indians on the Missouri, Arkansas, and Red rivers. That 
they were securing much influence o\er the Indians in 
those regions was a fact which could not fail to give the 
Spaniards some uneasiness. Then the American Revolu- 
tion brought the boundary of the American Union to the 
banks of the Mississippi and gave a great impetus to the 
westward movement of those restless, pushing Anglo- 
American pioneers. Texas and New Mexico lay in their 
pathway. Panic seized the Spanish officials lest these 
northern provinces should be entirely overrun. 

108. The Case of Daniel Boone. — In the nineties Daniel 
Boone lost his lands in Kentucky and moved across into 
Spanish territory on the Missouri River west of St. Louis. 
His son, Daniel Boone, Jr., was already there, and others 
of his married children soon followed. By 1800, before 



88 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



the Louisiana Purchase, there was a considerable American 
settlement in that region. Boonville, North Carolina; 
Boonesboro, Kentucky ; and Booneville, Missouri, mark 
stages in the life of that restless old pioneer. Others of 



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FIRST QUARTER 

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NINETEENTH CENTURY 



GUL.r 
MEXfCO 



the same sturdy stock, filled with the pioneering spirit of 
the young American West, were moving this way. Their 
faces were turned toward New Mexico. There was cause 
for uneasiness. 



THE CLOSE OF THE SPANISH ERA 89 

109. The Louisiana Purchase. — Suddenly, in 1803, the 
whole frontier problem was again radically changed when 
the United States purchased Louisiana. Spain had given 
it back to France in 1800; but that was hardly known in 
New Mexico until it had already passed into the possession 
of the United States. 

The boundary between French Louisiana and the Spanish 
provinces had never been determined. Now Spain claimed 
all the territory to the Arkansas or even the Missouri ; and 
the United States regarded Louisiana as extending to the 
Red River or probably to the Rio Grande. While each 
of these extreme claims had very slight foundation, the 
long strip of country between the Red River and the Ar- 
kansas was a genuinely debatable ground. New Mexico 
had the better claim to the western portion of it, and 
Louisiana the better claim to the eastern portion. These 
facts were recognized by the treaty of 1819. In the mean- 
time, however, the whole region was in dispute. 

110. Lieutenant Melgares Goes to the Eastern Plains. — 
Spanish officials, thoroughly aroused by the westward ex- 
pansion of the United States, now sent a great military 
expedition under Lieutenant Facundo Melgares (fa-koon'do 
mel-ga/ras) to the eastern plains in the summer of 1806 to 
check the American movement in this direction. With a 
hundred cavalry from Chihuahua and five hundred New 
Mexico mounted militiamen he went down the Canadian 
Rvier, then turned north across the Arkansas into the 
Pawnee country with orders to capture any Americans he 
might find. He also had orders to explore the frontier of 
New Mexico as far as the Missouri and Platte rivers and to 
make treaties with the Indians. After a council with the 
head men of the Pawnees he returned to Santa Fe. 



9 o 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



111. Pike's Expedition to New Mexico. — A few weeks 
after Melgares left the Pawnee villages a little band of 
twenty- two American infantry, under Lieutenant Zebulon 
M. Pike, trudged in from the east and claimed the alle- 
giance of the Pawnees for their government. 

Pike had started out from St. Louis in July, 1806, to 
explore the southwestern portion of Louisiana and establish 

friendly relations with 
Indians on the frontier. 
He went on across the 
plains to the Arkansas in 
western Kansas and up 
to the " Mexican Moun- 
tains " in the region 
of Pueblo, Colorado. 
Though Pike discovered 
Pike's Peak, he declared 
that " no human being 
could have ascended to 
its pinnacle." 

From the region of Pue- 
blo, Colorado, he crossed 
the Sangre de Cristo 
Mountains to the San Luis Valley and built a cottonwood 
stockade about five miles up the Rio Conejos (ko-na'hos) 
on the west side of the Rio Grande in February, 1807. From 
this point he sent a few of his men back to bring in two 
who had been left in the mountains because their feet were 
so frostbitten that they could not travel. At the same 
time a Dr. John H. Robinson, of St. Louis, who had accom- 
panied the party, went to Santa Fe to collect a debt and 
secure information about the country. 




Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike 



THE CLOSE OF THE SPANISH ERA 91 

112. The Americans in Santa Fe. — Pike had built his 
fort and raised the United States flag on Spanish territory ; 
and as soon as the news reached Governor Joaquin Alen- 
castre (hwa-ken' a-lan-kas'tra) he sent out a party of horse- 
men to bring the Americans to Santa Fe. Leaving a few- 
horses at the fort to bring in those who were still in the 
mountains, the party went over the hills by Ojo Caliente 
(o'ho ka-lyan'ta) and San Juan to the capital, March 2, 1807. 

" I was dressed," says Pike, a ina pair of blue trousers, 
mockinsons, blanket coat, and a cap made of scarlet cloth 
lined with fox-skin; my poor fellows were in leggins, 
breechcloths, and leather coats, and there was not a hat in 
the whole party." The people of the town asked whether 
they lived in houses, or in camps like the Indians, and 
whether people wore hats in their country ! 

Then Pike and Alencastre matched wits over the situa- 
tion, Pike protesting that he had merely lost his way while 
searching for the Red River, and Alencastre answering 
that even if the Lieutenant had mistaken the Rio Grande 
for the Red River, he had deliberately built his fort and 
raised the American flag on the west, or Spanish, side of it. 
And why was Dr. Robinson, a man with business in Santa 
Fe, in his party if he had not intended to stray into Spanish 
territory ? It did look as if Pike had fallen into a trap of 
his own setting. 

The Governor, therefore, sent him on to Chihuahua to 
report to the commanding general of the Interior Provinces. 
There he was relieved of his most important papers and 
sent under escort across Coahuila and Texas to Natchi- 
toches on the Louisiana frontier, July 1, 1807. 

113. The First Americans in Santa Fe. — But Pike and 
his party were not the first Americans in Santa Fe. At 



92 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

least two adventurers were ahead of them. The first was 
Baptiste la Lande (ha- test' la land'), a French creole 
trader from Illinois, sent out in the spring of 1804 by 
William Morrison, of Kaskaskia, to try the Santa Fe 
market and report on commercial prospects in that region. 
He reached Santa Fe that fall and found a ready market for 
his goods and so many inducements to stay that he settled 
down in the capital, married a Spanish woman, and did not 
take the trouble to pay Morrison for the goods. This 
debt was the excuse for Dr. Robinson's coming with Pike 
in 1807 (sees. 111-112). 

The next American in Santa Fe was James Purcell, of 
Kentucky, a typical plainsman, who had been trapping on 
the Missouri, Platte, and Arkansas for three years, and 
finally drifted into Santa Fe in the summer of 1805. He, 
too, settled there and worked as a carpenter until 1824, 
when he returned to Missouri. 

114. Efforts at Trade from the East. — The report of 
Lieutenant Pike gave the people of the United States their 
first authentic information about the Spanish Southwest. 
The Westerners were open-eyed with wonder as they lis- 
tened to his report of prices in Santa Fe. Linen was $4.00 
a yard; fine cloths, $20.00 to $25.00; " and all other dry- 
goods in proportion " — in a country where horses could 
be bought at $11.00 and sheep at $1.00 each. 

In 1809 four traders started out from St. Louis to Santa 
Fe, but were never again heard from. Another party, 
under the leadership of Robert McKnight, James Baird, 
and Samuel Chambers, came across the plains to Santa Fe, 
only to have their goods confiscated and to be themselves 
sent to prison in Chihuahua. Then in midwinter 181 5- 
1816 Auguste P. Chouteau (o-goost' shoo-to') and Julius 



THE CLOSE OF THE SPANISH ERA 93 

de Munn (de mun), St. Louis traders among the Indians 
on the upper Arkansas, came down and traded at Taos 
and Santa Fe. Later they were driven out. Finally in 
18 1 9 David Merriwether, a Kentuckian in the employ of 
the American Fur Company, came in from St. Louis, only 
to be lodged in the old military prison at Santa Fe. New 
Mexico was still a forbidden land. 

115. Agriculture and Stock Raising. — Agriculture and 
stock raising were then as now New Mexico's principal 
industries. In the valleys where there was flowing water 
for irrigation corn, wheat, beans, pumpkins, squashes, and 
other vegetables were grown in abundance. Some fruit, 
cotton, and punche (poon'cha), a native tobacco, were 
grown in certain sections. 

Mules, burros, cattle, and sheep were raised in great 
numbers. Horses were not so numerous. Thousands of 
sheep were driven to El Paso and other southern points 
every year. They were worth $1.00 each; cattle, $5.00; 
horses, $11.00 ; mules, $30.00. The burro was the favorite 
pack animal in the colony, and the mule was the commercial 
pack animal in the overland freighting business to El Paso, 
Chihuahua, and elsewhere. 

116. Trades and Industries. ■ — Manufacturing industries 
were in a very primitive condition. Agriculture, stock 
raising, trading, fighting Indians, and exploring the frontiers 
absorbed most of the energy of the colonists. The Indians 
practiced their native handicrafts and those that the 
missionaries had taught them. Cotton cloth, coarse woolen 
blankets, prepared skins of animals, rough leather, and 
pottery were the chief products. Other manufactured ar- 
ticles were imported from Spain through the one seaport 
of Vera Cruz and then brought by pack train for two 



94 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



thousand miles through Mexico City, Durango, and Chi- 
huahua. The cost of such goods was enormous. 

117. The Taos Fairs. — The royal order of 1723 (sec. 96), 
prohibiting trade with the French and limiting trade with 
the plains Indians to those who came to Taos and Pecos, 
brought into existence regular annual fairs at Taos. These 
fairs were rapidly developed by the new policy of seeking 




mwm 



The North Pueblo of Taos To-day 

the friendship and trade of the plains Indians after the 
middle of the eighteenth century (sec. 98). Taos was the 
extreme northern outpost of Spanish settlement. For the 
plains Indians in all directions it was the nearest source 
of supplies of manufactured articles. The Comanches and 
other tribes came in from the plains bringing deer skins, 
buffalo robes, furs, buffalo meat, and captives, to exchange 
with the Spaniards and Pueblos for knives, bridles, trink- 



THE CLOSE OF THE SPANISH ERA 95 

ets, horses, blankets, and even fire arms if they could get 
them. It was a motley array that gathered there each 
summer. Taos became the busiest and most turbulent 
town in the province. Its population grew rapidly from 
160 in 1760 to 1,351 in 1799. 

Money was hardly known among these people until 
about 1800, and old-time barter had ceased to meet the 
varied needs of this growing trade. So the professional 
traders invented a system of imaginary money having 
four kinds of dollars, worth from twelve and a half cents 
to a dollar each. Then they bought for the cheap dollars 
and sold for the dear ones. Every manufactured article 
brought in was exorbitant in price. 

118. The Caravan to El Paso and Chihuahua. — Later 
in the fall the traders fitted out their caravan of pack mules 
and carts and started southward. At El Paso del Norte 
they stopped and traded for a while in the early winter 
and then moved on to Chihuahua for the great January 
fair. There they exchanged their raw materials and what 
little specie they had for cargoes of manufactured articles, 
groceries, drugs, knives, firearms, steel traps, trinkets for 
the Indians, and other light imported commodities for the 
northern trade the following summer. 

By 1788 this trade to Chihuahua amounted to $30,000 
a year. Fifteen years later imports from the south 
amounted to $112,000 a year. Exports of wool, wine, 
peltries, etc., worth $60,000, besides large flocks of sheep 
and hundreds of horses, went to the same regions. 

The commercial policy of Spain toward her American 
colonies was selfish and ruinous. All trade between New 
Mexico and foreigners or the other Spanish colonies was 
strictly forbidden, except through the one channel to the 



9 6 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



south, and even that was taxed. The two centuries and 
a quarter of Spanish rule came to an end in 1821 without 
the establishment of any regular trade between Santa Fe 
and California, Texas, or the United States. 







SPANISH 

3 ETTLEMENTS 
1760 



119. Population. — In 1799 the Spanish population 
numbered about 18,000 in New Mexico proper with nearly 
5,000 more in the El Paso district. By the close of the 



TEE CLOSE OF THE SPANISH ERA 97 

Spanish era (182 1) it had grown to 28,500 with more than 
8,000 around El Paso. Santa Fe, the largest town, had 
6,000 people ; Albuquerque, 2,500 ; La Canada, 2,600. The 
Pueblos in their twenty-six villages now numbered but 
9,000. 

120. Education. — All through the eighteenth century 
education remained in a very backward condition. There 
were no scholars in the colony except the few who came 
from abroad. Even their education, emphasizing religion 
and ancient languages, and totally lacking in modern history 
and geography, was somewhat one-sided. There were no 
colleges or public schools and only a few private teachers 
in the larger towns at the close of the Spanish era. There 
was not a lawyer or notary public. The army surgeon at 
Santa Fe was the only doctor. 

121. Government. — The province was under the ab- 
solute authority of the Spanish king and his viceroy at 
Mexico City. The appointed governors who ruled at 
Santa Fe controlled all civil, military, legislative, executive, 
and judicial affairs. From their decrees in civil and crim- 
inal matters there was no appeal except to the Audiencia 
(or high court) of Guadalajara thirteen hundred miles 
away. There were no courts in New Mexico. The gover- 
nor's five-year term might be cut short whenever the king 
desired. His salary early in the eighteenth century was 
$2,000 a year. By 1800 it was $4,000. His lieutenant 
governor at El Paso received $2,000. 

For local government the colony was divided into dis- 
tricts each under an alcalde (al-kal'da) appointed by the 
governor and serving without salary. There were no 
popular common councils even in Santa Fe and the larger 
towns. Nowhere, in fact, was there any semblance of 



98 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

popular government except in the Pueblo villages where 
the Indians annually elected their alcaldes. 

Once only was New Mexico represented in the Spanish 
Cortes (kor'tas), or legislature. Even then (1810), when 
Spain had been overrun by Napoleon's armies and the 
Spanish government was looking to its American colonies 
for support, the Delegate from New Mexico, Pedro Bau- 
tista Pino (pe no), was selected by the governor and ten 
other officials of the province. And so little did he accom- 
plish that an enterprising wag wrote : Don Pedro Pino fue; 
Don Pedro Pino vino (Don Pedro Pino went away ; Don 
Pedro Pino came back). 

The Veteran Company at Santa Fe in 1822 numbered a 
hundred and twenty-one regulars. Thirty-nine were cav- 
alry on the move to various parts of the province. Thir- 
teen were capital guards. The others were stationed in 
regions particularly exposed to Indian attacks. 

122. The Overthrow of Spanish Power. — The selfish 
rule of the Spanish kings had ruined the Spanish colonies 
in America and alienated their people. Naturally, there- 
fore, when Napoleon overthrew the Spanish government 
and set his brother Joseph to rule over Spain (1808), the 
colonists seized the opportunity to start a revolution. 
Hidalgo (e-thargo), the patriot priest at Dolores (do-lo'ras), 
started the movement in Mexico in 1810. The next year 
he was executed; but the old order could never be fully 
restored. Finally on September 28, 1821, Mexico declared 
her independence and succeeded in establishing it. Far- 
away New Mexico knew little of what was going on around 
Mexico City and felt none of the excitement of those stirring 
events ; yet when the news reached Santa Fe, December 26, 
182 1, the capital celebrated the event with great enthusiasm. 



THE CLOSE OF THE SPANISH ERA 99 

GENERAL READINGS 

H. H. Bancroft, History of Arizona and New Mexico, 255-309. 

L. B. Prince, A Concise History of New Mexico, 127-147. 

B. M. Read, Illustrated History of New Mexico, 334-360. 

R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, I, 445- 

483. 

J. H. Vaughan, History of Education in New Mexico, Chapter III. 

SPECIAL TOPICS 

1. Exploration of New Routes. H. E. Bolton, Texas in the Middle 
Eighteenth Century, 127-133; L. Houck, The Spanish Regime in Missouri, 
I, 350-358, contains a translation of Vial's diary of his journey from Santa 
Fe to St. Louis. 

2. The New Indian Problem and the Louisiana Frontier. J. A. 
Robertson (ed.), Louisiana under Spain, France, and the United States, 
1785-1807. 2 vols. (Documents); H. E. Bolton (ed.), Athanase de Mezieres 
and the Louisiana-Texas Frontier, 1768-1780. 2 vols. Especially I, 66-122. 

3. The Louisiana Boundary. T. M. Marshall, A History of the West- 
ern Boundary of the Louisiana Purchase, 1810-1841, 1-70. 

4. Colonial Commerce and Industry. H. E. Bourne, Spain in Amer- 
ica ("American Nation" Series, III), 282-301. 

5. Spanish Colonial Government. H. E. Bourne, Same as above, 
220-242; D. E. Smith, "The Viceroy of New Spain," in University of Cali- 
fornia Publications in History, I, 98-293; H. I. Priestly, "The Reforms of 
Joseph Galvez in New Spain," in The Pacific Ocean in History, 349-362; 
R. E. Twitchell, "Spanish Colonization in New Mexico in the Ofiate and 
De Vargas Periods," Historical Society of New Mexico Publication No. 22. 

6. Social and Racial Conditions in Spanish America. H. E. Bourne, 
Same as above, 253-268, 302-319. 

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. What was the general Indian situation toward the close of the 
eighteenth century? What tribes were most troublesome? 

2. For what purposes were the Interior Provinces organized? What 
region was included? What was the Audiencia? 

3. Give an account of the first attempt to go from New Mexico to Cali- 
fornia. Of Governor Anza's effort to find a route to Sonora. Locate the 
San Pedro River, the Gila, Santa Cruz, Janos. 

4. Draw a map showing the routes traveled by Vial and Mares between 
Santa Fe and San Antonio ; by Vial to Natchitoches. What famous high- 
way later followed his route to St. Louis? 

5. Why was there but little mining in Spanish times? In what regions 
were prospecting and operations carried on during this period? 



IOO THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

6. How did the English come to be New Mexico's eastern neighbors? 
What brought the English frontiersmen into the West? What effect did 
the American Revolution have on this movement? 

7. How did the Louisiana Purchase change the situation? Discuss the 
western boundary of Louisiana. Point out the debatable region. 

8. What was the object of Melgares's expedition to the east in 1806? 
Of Pike's expedition? Why was Dr. Robinson with Pike? 

9. Draw a map showing Pike's route from St. Louis to Natchitoches. 
What was the effect of his report ? 

10. Who were the first Americans in Santa Fe? How did they come to 
be there? 

11. Give an account of the first efforts of the Americans to open trade 
with Santa Fe. Why did they fail? 

12. What were the chief industries in the colony? What trades were 
carried on? Where did other manufactured goods come from? What was 
the chief means of transportation? Why was the price of live stock so 
low and that of manufactured goods so high? 

13. Give an account of the Taos fairs. What were the chief articles of 
trade? Who brought them? 

14. What did the annual caravan to Chihuahua carry each way? 

15. How much did population increase from 1760 to 1821? See sees. 
91, 119. 

16. Give an account of educational conditions at the close of the Spanish 
period. 

17. How was the province governed? What powers did the governor 
have? What kind of local government was there? Was the government 
representative? 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE MEXICAN PERIOD, 1822-1846 

123. The Change of Government. — In the beginning 
of the year 1822 the new government under the Mexican 
Republic went quietly into effect. When Facundo Mel- 
gares, the last Spanish governor, turned his office over to 
Francisco Xavier Chaves (ha-vyer' cha/vas), the first 
Mexican Political Chief, on July 5, the change was, com- 
plete. The stormy Mexican period was to last but a 
scant twenty-five years. 

124. Beginnings of the Santa Fe Trade. — From the 
purchase of Louisiana to the end of the Spanish era all 
efforts of the American West to trade with Santa Fe ended 
in failure (sec. 114). The hostility of Spanish officials 
could not be overcome. Now the situation was changed. 
Mexico was an independent republic ready to establish 
new relations with the outside world. 

William Becknell, of Missouri, a trader among the 
Comanches, who came down to Taos and Santa Fe in the 
fall of 18 2 1 and returned to Missouri that winter, was the 
first American to take advantage of the change. The 
following spring (1822) he organized a party of twenty-one 
men and left the Missouri frontier with a pack train and 
three wagons, bringing $5,000 worth of goods across the 
plains toward Santa Fe. This was the first regular trading 
caravan to use wagons for transportation of goods across 
the plains, and also the first to follow the Cimarron route 



102 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



to San Miguel and Santa Fe instead of continuing up the 
Arkansas and coming in by way of Taos. William Beck- 
nell, its organizer and manager, has, therefore, been called 
the Father of the Santa Fe Trade. 




A Pathfinder of Civilization 

Two years later the spring caravan of twenty-five wagons 
brought out $30,000 worth of goods and took back $180,000 
in gold and silver and $10,000 worth of furs. These were 
the big days of the trade when calico and cotton cloth 
brought from two dollars to three dollars a yard in Santa 



THE MEXICAN PERIOD 



103 



Fe, and the yard, or vara (vara), was only thirty-three 
inches long. The Santa Fe trade was established. 

125. The Fur Trade. — Where did this $10,000 worth 
of furs come from? The New Mexicans were not great 
trappers. This brings us to another phase of early Ameri- 
can enterprise in New Mexico — one that has been almost 
forgotten. For many years American and French frontiers- 
men had been trapping beaver 
on the streams from Colorado to 
northern Sonora. The official 
license was always difficult and 
sometimes impossible to get; 
but that detail was frequently 
disregarded. James 0. Pattie, 
a Kentuckian, with a party of 
western frontiersmen, trapped 
all over New Mexico and Ari- 
zona from 1824 to 1828. In 
1826 Ceran St. Vrain (sa-ran' 
sant vran) brought out a hun- 
dred trappers to catch beaver on the Rio Grande, the Gila, 
and the Colorado. 

The importance of the fur trade in southwestern history 
during the first third of the last century has not been 
sufficiently appreciated because the romance of the over- 
land trade to the Missouri River has overshadowed the 
quieter and less conspicuous activity of the trappers, who 
spent their time on the streams in remote regions and 
appeared in the settlements for but short periods in the 
course of a year. Like the trader, however, but ahead of 
him, they were the pathfinders of civilization. 

126. Popularity of the American Trade. — The Santa 




Ceran St. Vrain 



104 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

Fe trade with the United States was popular with both the 
officials and the common people. The old route to Vera 
Cruz was more than two thousand miles long. The new 
trail to the Missouri River was less than eight hundred. 
Better goods could be got from the Americans at a lower 
price, and the New Mexicans were determined to have them. 

The officials of the Territory had still other reasons for 
fostering the trade. Their salaries, to be paid from the 
empty treasury of the new and unsteady Mexican Republic, 
gave little more than an unlimited right of expectation; 
and the Territory had no regular revenues of its own. 
Tariff duties on goods coming from the United States would 
help to solve this problem. In the early years of the trade 
these duties amounted to about fifteen to twenty per cent 
of the American value of the goods. By 1830 they had 
been raised to about sixty per cent. And there was an 
export duty on the silver going to the United States. 

Moreover, the same spirit of adventure and love of gain 
that prompted the pioneers of the American West to open 
up this " commerce of the prairies " quickly led many 
enterprising New Mexicans to engage in the trade. In 
1824 Governor Bartholome Baca was actively engaged 
in the overland trade and making plans to secure the 
cooperation of the United States government in giving 
military protection to the caravans through the Indian 
country. Truly, times had changed. 

127. Goodc and Profits. — In this trade from the United 
States the chief articles were calico and domestic cotton 
cloths, with much smaller amounts of silks, velvets, and 
numerous other articles. Not all of them, however, were 
consumed in New Mexico. Much of each season's impor- 
tations, sometimes more than half, went on in the fall 



THE MEXICAN PERIOD 



I05 



caravan to Chihuahua, or after 1830 by pack train to 
California. 

In the early days of the trade, with calico at two or 
three dollars a yard and other goods in proportion, the 
profits to the successful trader were enormous. The 
cargo brought out by one of Becknell's wagons in 1822 
(sec. 124) is said to have cost $150 at Franklin, Missouri, 
and to have sold for $700 in Santa Fe. But when the 
number of traders began to increase, those days were soon 




Bent's Fort on the Arkansas 

From Hughes, Doniphan's Expedition. 

over. Then calico came down to about seventy cents 
and occasionally dropped as low as thirty. Profits seldom 
went higher than forty per cent, frequently dropped as low 
as ten, and averaged fifteen to twenty per cent. 

128. The Santa Fe Trail. — The early adventurers in 
this direction started from St. Louis, Kaskaskia, Fort 
Smith, or wherever was most convenient. They usually 
followed up the valley of the Arkansas to the region of La 
Junta and then turned southwest across the mountains 



io6 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



to Taos and Santa Fe. But in 1822 Becknell brought the 
first American party over the new route known as the 
Cimarron Cut-Off, first explored by Pierre Vial in 1792 
(sec. 103), which soon became the main line of the Santa 
Fe Trail. For some years Franklin, Missouri, was the 
starting point. Then boats began to land at the new 
town of Independence on the river a hundred miles farther 
west, and after 1830 Independence became the chief out- 
fitting point. 

Another route in regular use followed up the Arkansas 
to Bent's Fort, came through Raton Pass, and joined the 




Bent's Fort, A Restoration under the Direction of R. E. Twitchell 



Cimarron trail at " the Mora River near Wagon Mound. 
Many traders came up the Arkansas and Canadian from 
Fort Smith. The warmer Canadian route had grass for 
the stock of the returning caravans later in the fall. 

129. The Overland Journey. — From Independence 
west to Council Grove the Trail lay through well-watered 
prairie, then over arid plains to the ford of the Arkansas 
below modern Dodge City, across the Cimarron desert to 
the Cimarron River, thence by the Wagon Mound to the 



THE MEXICAN PERIOD 107 

first settlement at San Miguel, and through Pecos and 
Apache Canyon to Santa Fe. Las Vegas was not settled 
until 1835. 

Here was a journey that appealed to the keen, sturdy 
Scotch-Irish Westerners, who loved adventure and feared 
no danger. Half of it was American and half Mexican, 
with the Arkansas River as the dividing line. At Council 
Grove the traders would assemble and organize for pro- 
tection through the Indian country, where their only 
safety lay in numbers. Then the long train of canvas- 
covered prairie schooners, each drawn by six or eight mules 
or oxen, moved out toward Santa Fe at the slow pace of 
ten to fifteen miles a day. At night the wagons were parked 
in a hollow square to make an inclosure for the animals 
and a fortification against Indian attack. The outcoming 
journey took from two to three months ; the return trip 
with a lighter load, about a month and a half. Freighters 
would haul goods to Santa Fe at ten to twelve cents a 
pound. 

130. Government Support. — The Santa Fe trade, 
America's first romantic adventure in foreign commerce, 
was the outgrowth of the individual initiative of the West 
and received but slight encouragement from Washington 
at any time. Governor Baca's proposal (sec. 126) for 
joint protection brought small results. Though United 
States Senator Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri, had got a 
law through Congress in 1824 providing for a survey of the 
Trail, the survey amounted to nothing because the traders 
refused to follow its roundabout course. Only a few times, 
as in 1829 and 1843, did the United States furnish military 
protection for the caravan to the Arkansas. Each time the 
sending of an escort stirred up a storm of protest in Congress. 




io8 



THE MEXICAN PERIOD 109 

Western pioneer commerce made slight appeal to the East 
and, therefore, received slight, encouragement from the 
government. 

131. The Trails to California. — The overland trade 
from the east gave a new stimulus to the desire for an 
outlet to the California coast. In 1830 Antonio Jose Baca 
led a party of New Mexicans west from the Rio Grande 
in the region of Las Palomas (pa-lo'mas) by the Santa Rita 
copper mine to the Gila, down to the Colorado, and across 
into southern California. Over the same trail Ewing 
Young, a Tennesseean, with a party of trappers, went to 
California before the close of the year. This route soon 
came into prominence as the Gila Trail. 

That year (1830) also William Wolf skill, a Kentuckian, 
who had been trapping in northern New Mexico since 1822, 
fitted out a party to trap in California and set out from 
Taos late that season or early in the spring of 1831. Fol- 
lowing the Old Spanish Trail Csec. 101) northwest into 
central Utah, he turned away across the Wahsatch Moun- 
tains to the southwest, down the Virgin River almost to the 
northwestern bend of the Colorado, across the Mojave 
(mo-ha/va) Desert, and over the Cajon (ka-hon') Pass to 
Los Angeles. This northern route, known as the Spanish 
Trail, soon became the great highway of trade and travel 
to the Pacific coast. Over it went pack trains of New 
Mexican blankets and goods from the United States to be 
exchanged for California mules and horses. 

132. American Pioneers. — With the parties of traders 
and trappers that came over the Trail from the Missouri 
River each year after 1822 were a few individuals who, like 
La Lande and Purcell (sec. 113), settled down in New 
Mexico — the beginning of the American Pioneer element. 



no 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



Antonio Roubidoux (roo-be-doc/), later famous as inter- 
preter and scout, settled at Taos in 1822. The next year 
Charles Beaubien (bo-byan'), a French Canadian, went to 
Taos and a few years later married into a prominent Spanish 
family. Ceran St. Vrain and Charles Bent, trading partners, 
early became identified with New Mexico and went into 
business at Taos in 1832. Bent married Maria Ignacia 
Jaramillo (eg-na/sya ha-ra-me'yo) , of Taos, and thus be- 
came brother-in-law to Kit Carson. 

133. Kit Carson. — But of all American pioneers in 
New Mexico Kit (Christopher) Carson stands first. Born 

r - - , in Kentucky of 

the dogged fron- 
tier stock that 
had come down 
from the North 
Carolina and Vir- 
ginia mountains 
and conquered 
that wilderness, 
he moved to Mis- 
souri in childhood 
and as a lad 
of seventeen ran 
away and came 
to New Mexico 
with St. Vrain's caravan of traders and trappers in 1826 
(sec. 125). He too went to Taos and there soon married 
Josefa (ho-sa'fa) Jaramillo, a member of a well-to-do 
Spanish family of Taos. Born in the wilds of the United 
States, he loved still more the wilder regions of northern 
Mexico. He hunted and trapped all over the Rocky 




Courtesy of R. E. TuUchell 

The Grave of Kit Carson at Taos 



THE MEXICAN PERIOD III 

Mountains from Montana to Chihuahua and in the forties 
piloted the western expeditions of John C. Fremont. 
Carson, not Fremont, was the Great Pathfinder — politi- 
cians and publicity agents to the contrary notwithstanding. 
And he probably had a wider influence in his time than any 
other man who ever came into the State. 

The whole American pioneer element that actually 
settled down in New Mexico before the American Occupa- 
tion in 1846 amounted to but a few dozen. Yet they 
gained wide influence because of their social and business 
connections with leading Spanish families. 

134. Opposition to Foreigners Reappears. — Popular 
government in the Mexican Republic was losing ground. 
Ambitious rulers seeking despotic power felt jealous of 
the influence of foreigners, especially Americans. This 
political attitude was gradually communicated to the 
officials in New Mexico. And when those same despotic 
tendencies stirred Texas to revolt in 1832 and to open 
revolution and independence in 183 5-1 83 6, the American 
residents of New Mexico were suspected of being in some 
way connected with the Texan revolt or even planning 
a like movement here. For although there were scarcely 
fifty Americans in all New Mexico, American influence was 
weakening the ties that bound the Territory to the Mexican 
Republic at the same time that the overland trade was 
making it commercially dependent upon the United States. 

135. The Revolution of 1837. — While New Mexican life 
was being thus stimulated by business and social contact 
with the robust western element from the United States, 
centralization was gaining control in the Mexican Republic. 
In 1835 General Santa Anna, President of the Republic, 
sent out Lieutenant Colonel Albino Perez (al-be'no pa/res) 



112 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 




of the Mexican army as governor of New Mexico. He 
was the first Mexican governor who had not been a New 
Mexican by either birth or residence ; and when he reached 
Santa Fe in June, he was coldly received. The adoption 
of the Mexican Constitution of 1836, making the Mexican 
government more like a monarchy, although it made New 
Mexico a coequal Department, made his position still 

■„,..„ — . more uncomfortable. It looked 

as if outsiders were coming into 
as complete control as in the 
days of Spanish rule. 

The unpopular new Constitu- 
tion with its system of taxation 
was to go into effect ,in April, 
1837. I n the meantime General 
Manuel Armijo (ma-nweT ar- 
me'ho), of Albuquerque, a man 
of wealth and towering ambition, 
urged the people -to resist the 
change. Followers flocked to 
his standard so easily that the 
movement quickly became dom- 
inated by ignorant Indians from 
the northern pueblos and by the lower class of New 
Mexicans. In August (1837) tnev gathered at La Canada 
and issued their revolutionary proclamation against admit- 
ting the Departmental plan or any taxation. 

Governor Perez started with a hundred and fifty men 
to disperse the rebels ; but most of his followers deserted 
to the enemy, and he fled to the capital. That night he 
left in flight toward Albuquerque. The following morning 
he was overtaken and beheaded and six of his companions 



Governor Manuel Armijo 



THE MEXICAN PERIOD 113 

killed. The rebels entered Santa Fe, August 10, and 
elected Jose Gonzales (gon-sa'las), an ignorant buffalo 
hunter of Taos, as governor. 

136. Armijo Seizes Control. — Thus far General Armijo 
had kept himself in the background ; and now his Indian 
and New Mexican allies had left him out. He sullenly 
retired to his estate at Albuquerque and planned to over- 
throw Gonzales and reestablish the authority of the Mexican 
government with himself as governor. The undertaking 
proved to be easy. On his approach to the capital Gonzales 
fled northward. Armijo entered without opposition and 
proclaimed himself governor. For all this he was appointed 
governor and ruled (excepting the period from April 28, 
1844 to November, 1845) to tne en d of the Mexican period. 
The following January (1838) he crushed the last of the 
rebels at La Canada and executed Gonzales and other 
leading insurgents, men who had been his own associates 
in the plot of a year before. 

137. Results of the Revolt. — New Mexico had gained 
nothing. Foreign residents of Santa Fe and other points 
had spent a year in constant dread of being mobbed. Un- 
scrupulous persons had tried persistently to make the 
people believe that the American merchants in Santa Fe 
were connected with the revolutionary plot. And when 
Armijo started his counter revolution against Gonzales, 
the latter threatened to call in Texan aid. It was the idle 
threat of a scheming politician, but it aroused bitter indig- 
nation against the Texans, which was to have its effect at 
the time of the Texas-Santa Fe Expedition, four years later, 
and again at the opening of the Civil War (sees. 139-141, 201). 

138. Progress of the Overland Trade. — These dis- 
turbances could not fail to injure the overland trade, 



114 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

though it was now too well established and too deeply 
rooted in the needs of the New Mexicans and the enter- 
prising spirit of the Westerners to be ruined by the dis- 
orders of the times. It dropped off heavily in 1838, only 
to be more than doubled in the following year. Then 
(1839) Governor Armijo struck it a despotic blow by his 
arbitrary tax of $500 per wagon, no matter how small the 
load nor how coarse the goods. Again the imports dropped 
off. The traders, however, soon learned to use only the 
largest wagons loaded with goods of high value ; Armijo 
returned to the old tariff according to the value of the 
goods ; and the trade continued to grow. 

139. The Texas-Santa Fe Expedition, 1841. — The 
growth of this overland commerce from the Missouri 
River to Santa Fe had not been overlooked by the enter- 
prising Texans. They saw no reason why much of this 
profitable business might not be diverted to the shorter 
route from Austin to Santa Fe. In the spring of 1841, 
therefore, President Lamar of the Texan Republic fitted 
out an expedition to try its fortunes in such an enterprise. 
Moreover, Texas claimed all of the country east of the 
Rio Grande and believed that the New Mexicans, groaning 
under Mexican oppression, would welcome the protection 
and free institutions of the Lone Star Repulic. 1 To pro- 
vide for such an event the President sent along three 
commissioners to learn the sentiment of the people and 
offer them the protection of the Republic if they desired 
the change. Otherwise the commissioners were to confine 
their efforts to promoting plans for the overland trade 
between New Mexico and Texas. 

1 Perhaps the story of Gonzales's threat to call in the Texans to save him from Armijo 
had reached Texas. 



THE MEXICAN PERIOD 



115 



The expedition of fifty traders with their cargoes of 
merchandise, accompanied by a number of scientists and 
sight-seers, left Austin in June, 1841, under an escort of 
two hundred and seventy volunteer cavalry commanded 
by General Hugh McLeod. Through the Indian country 
north to the Red River and west toward Santa Fe, over 
the forgotten trail of Vial (sec. 103), they came in through 
Anton Chico (an-ton' che'ko) and the Pecos country. 

140. Capture and Imprisonment. — Meanwhile wild 
stories of the ruthless and bloodthirsty character of the 



jM! 




A Caravan Entering Santa Fe 

Texans were being circulated, and Governor Armijo 
stationed Captain Damasio Salazar (da-ma' syo sa-la-sar') 
with a hundred troops on the east side of the mountains 
to watch for their approach. In September and October 
they arrived and were captured by Salazar and Armijo. 
An advance party of rive men, going ahead toward Santa 
Fe to confer with the Governor, was captured by Salazar 
at La Cuesta (kwas'ta) and lined up at once to be shot, 



Il6 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

but was saved from immediate death by the protest of 
Gregorio Vigil (ve-hel'), a high-minded New Mexican 
with considerable influence in the Pecos country. Two of 
their less fortunate companions were shot for trying to 
escape. One of them, Samuel Howland, of New Bedford, 
Massachusetts, had come along as interpreter and sight- 
seer. 

When General Armijo had gathered in all the prisoners 
on the east side of the mountains and confiscated their 
goods, he returned to Santa Fe and sent the Texans to 
prisons in Mexico City. South to El Paso they were under 
command of the cruel and ruthless Captain Salazar. As 
they went down the Rio Grande the cart in which a crippled 
Tennesseean named McAllister was riding, broke down. 
Salazar, though he had half a dozen mules with no riders, 
ordered McAllister to walk fast and catch up with the 
crowd — or be shot on the spot. His dead body was thrown 
by the roadside, stripped of clothing and with both ears 
cut off. 

When the prisoners were turned over to General Elias 
(a-le'as) Gonzales at El Paso, all, except McAllister and 
four others, answered the roll call. And Salazar presented 
to the new commander a string of ten human ears as grim 
evidence that none had escaped. From there to Mexico 
City the men fared better ; for this " General Elias " was 
a soldier of honor. 

They did not remain long in prison. Many of them 
were not Texans at all, but Englishmen, Americans, and 
others, who had come along as traders or mere adventurers 
with the sight-seer's longing for strange lands. They 
were soon released by General Santa Anna under pressure 
from their governments. 



THE MEXICAN PERIOD 117 

141. Results of the Expedition. — Up to this time the 
Texan claim to eastern New Mexico and the empty threat 
of the rebel Governor Gonzales to call in the Texans to 
bolster up his declining fortunes in 1837-1838 (sec. 137— 
139) had aroused resentment in New Mexico. Now that 
feeling was intensified, and at the same time bitter indigna- 
tion burst forth in Texas over the treatment of her citizens 
and those who accompanied them. " They were bar- 
barously shot," wrote Sam Houston to General Santa 
Anna, " their bodies mangled, and their corpses left un- 
buried. The butchery of McAllister, Galpin, Yates, and 
others appeals to Heaven and this nation for retribution 
on the heads of their inhuman murderers." 

The situation was still further complicated by the fact 
that many Americans from all parts of the country from 
Texas to far-away New England were in the expedition. 
The story of their mistreatment and sufferings aroused 
widespread resentment, especially among the southwestern 
pioneer element, at a time when the relations between the 
United States and Mexico were already strained to the 
breaking point. 

142. Effect on the Overland Trade. — Again the Santa 
Fe trade suffered from the disorders of the times. Early in 
1843 a band of fifteen marauders from the border, under 
Captain John McDaniel, robbed and murdered Antonio 
Jose Chaves, a wealthy New Mexican trader, on the Trail 
near the Little Arkansas. A little later that spring (1843) 
Colonel Warfield with a band of twenty Texans raided the 
town of Mora and killed five men, but had to flee for his 
life. In May (1843) a hundred and eighty Texans under 
Colonel Jacob Snively went up to the Arkansas to attack 
the spring caravans. Their first engagement was with the 



I IS THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

advance guard of General Armijo's escort going out to meet 
the caravan. Snively's men killed eighteen of the New 
Mexicans and captured most of the others. When those 
who escaped carried the news of the disaster to Armijo's 
camp, he fled in haste toward Santa Fe. A little later 
Captain Philip St. George Cooke escorted the traders to the 
Arkansas, disarmed the Texans, and allowed the caravan 
to proceed on its way toward New Mexico unmolested. 

Throughout the winter of 1 842-1 843 Americans in New 
Mexico had fared badly. A score of them had fled to 
California ; and when news came back from the Arkansas 
that the disaster to Armijo's men had fallen heavily on 
Indians from Taos, the American residents of that region 
had to flee for their lives. 

Another serious result was the decree of President Santa 
Anna closing the northern ports to all foreign commerce, 
August 7, 1843. But the New Mexicans had too long 
enjoyed the comforts and conveniences secured through 
this trade. The caravan that spring had brought $450,000 
worth of goods. Most of the revenues of the Department 
came from the tariff duties. The ties binding it to the 
Mexican Republic were every day growing weaker. Clearly, 
if Santa Anna pressed his autocratic power too far, it 
might cost him a Department. The obnoxious decree 
was, therefore, withdrawn March 31, 1844, in time for the 
caravan to bring $200,000 worth of goods to Santa Fe that 
summer. The time had passed when this commerce could 
be stopped by the decree of a despot. 

143. The Indian Problem. — Since the close of the 
seventeenth century the Pueblos had given little trouble 
except by taking part in the general New Mexican dis- 
turbance in 1837 ( sec - I 35)- They were a quiet, simple 



THE MEXICAN PERIOD 



119 



people; industrious and provident, perhaps, after the 
Indian fashion ; brave in battle, but not aggressive in the 
unequal contest with their wild neighbors. They numbered 
about 9,000 at the beginning of the nineteenth century. 

The wild tribes were much more numerous. The 
Apaches alone counted about 15,000 during the Mexican 
period and were the most widely scattered. Little change 
had come over their conduct or that of the Navajos. They 




A Pack Train 



murdered people and plundered the settlements almost at 
will. When pursued by troops, they generally escaped 
without suffering serious harm. Even though punished 
now and then, they were still uncontrolled. 

144. Travel and Communication. — Travel, therefore, 
was nowhere safe. Nor were there any roads except the 
Indian trails across the plains, through the mountain 
passes, and along the rivers, which had been worn into 
rough highways by the horses, carts, and pack trains 



120 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



of the Spaniards. Travel over these roads was slow and 
difficult. Yet the large and generous hospitality which 
had been one of the fine traditions of the people from the 
earliest days of the colony made the wayfarer in the settle- 
ments sure of shelter when night came on. 

Beyond New Mexico's borders the gates were every- 
where still closed at the beginning of Mexican times, 
except over the one long trail to Chihuahua. Then 



MBr 




Spanish and Mexican Carts 



quickly came the Santa Fe Trail from the Missouri River 
(sees. 124, 128) and the Gila and Spanish trails to California 
(sec. 131). Over the Chihuahua road the Mexican govern- 
ment established a regular mail service to Santa Fe twice 
a month. By the forties it came only once a month and 
very irregularly at that. Santa Fe and Tome (to-ma'), 
near Belen, were the only post offices in all New Mexico. 

145. Commerce and Industry. — The opening of these 
new trails, especially the one to the Missouri River, revo- 



THE MEXICAN PERIOD 121 

lutionized and multiplied the trade of the province many 
fold in a single generation. Formerly the one long trail 
from Vera Cruz and Mexico City had been the only source 
of supplies from the outside world. Now American and 
New Mexican traders were bringing many thousands of 
dollars' worth of goods by regular caravan over the shorter 
trail from the Missouri River every summer. New Mexico 
no longer faced south, but east. Her front door was not 
the Rio Grande highway, but Apache Canyon. 

In agriculture there was no marked change. Stock 
raising made some advance. Sheep raising in particular 
was benefited by the new American market for wool. The 
day of the " sheep king " was coming. 

Manufacturing and industrial pursuits generally went 
on in the old way — by only the crudest methods of hand 
industry. Some distilleries, one powder factory, several 
small mines, and a few mills complete the story. 

"These mills," wrote an American officer in 1846, "like everything 
else in New Mexico, are of very primitive style. There is a vertical 
axis, on the lower end of which is the water-wheel; the other end 
passes through the lower burr, and is firmly connected with the 
upper stOne, which, as the axis turns, revolves upon the lower stone. 
Above all this, hangs a large hopper of ox-hide, kept open at the top 
by a square frame, and narrowed off towards the bottom, so as to 
present the form of an inverted cone. In the extremity of the bag is 
a small opening, and this is fastened to a little trough. One end of 
this trough being supported by its connection with the hopper, the 
other end, or mouth, is sustained by a horizontal strip of wood, of 
which an extremity rests on an upright; and the other is upheld 
by an inclined stick that rests on the upper burr, so that the motion 
of the burr gives a jostling motion to the trough and hopper; thus 
the grain falls into the opening in the center of the upper burr, and 
passes out between the two burrs." - 



122 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

146. Education. — The Mexican period saw little prog- 
ress in education. The missions had always been primarily 
occupied with the Indians. Spain's declining power in the 
beginning of the nineteenth century had left little energy 
for anything but the bare fight for existence. Many of 
the Franciscans withdrew from New Mexico at the be- 
ginning of the Mexican period. The Mexican Republic 
suffered from frequent revolutions and a rapid succession 
of rulers. And New Mexico had little money to invest in 
education. Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and a few other towns 
had private schools. Teachers were few and poorly trained. 

147. The Introduction of Printing. — There was but one 
printing press and one printer in New Mexico prior to the 
American Occupation (1846). The press was probably 
brought from Mexico City 1 in the spring of 1834, and 
the printer, Jose Maria Baca, came from Mexico City and 
was publishing a periodical in Santa Fe in the summer of 
1834. A year later Father Antonio Jose Martinez, of 
Taos, brought out four numbers of El Crepiisculo (kra- 
poos'koo-16) , the Dawn, the second periodical and the 
first one whose name is known. Two others appeared 
in the next ten years. 

148. Social Life. — The generous hospitality of the 
well-to-do New Mexican families was proverbial. Even 
the adobe hut of the poorest ranchman was open to the 
passing stranger. The people were polite, easy going, 
pleasure loving, contented, intensely fond of home and 
family. Of an artistic temperament, they were inordinately 
fond of music and dancing. Cock fighting, card playing, 
and dice, with a considerable amount of gambling, made 
up a regular part of the sport and recreation of the time. 

1 Josiah Gregg, the famous Santa Fe trader, believed that the press came from the United 
States {Commerce of the Prairies, I, 200). 



THE MEXICAN PERIOD 1 23 

Wine flowed freely, though drunkenness was rare. 
Whisky was practically unknown until after the coming of 
the Americans in the twenties. Then Taos whisky be- 
came as famous as El Paso wine. Petty offenses were 
frequent ; serious crime was rare. 

The population was composed of two fairly distinct 
classes : (1) the old and well-to-do families of pure Spanish 



A Santa Fe Street Scene in the Forties 

blood and traditions ; and (2) the lower classes, of mixed 
blood, part Spanish and part Indian. 

149. Peonage and Indian Slavery. — From this latter 
class came the peons. The peon was not a slave whose 
person might be sold from master to master, but an un- 
fortunate debtor bound by Spanish and Mexican custom 
to " voluntary " service until his debt was paid. The 
pittance of two or three dollars a month which he received 
in goods at his master's price would barely support himself 



124 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



and family, if he had a family. And in extreme cases the 
poor fellow might work a lifetime, only to find that his debt 
of fifty or a hundred dollars was still unpaid and that one 




The Seven Counties of New Mexico, 1846 

After an old government map drawn by order of General Kearny. 

of his children must enter this unjust servitude for him. 
He was a slave without the name, but more unfortunate 
than the American Negro because no master was respon- 
sible for his support in sickness or old age. 



THE MEXICAN PERIOD 125 

There was also undisguised Indian slavery. Navajo 
captives were the favorites. Girls and women sold for 
from a hundred to three hundred dollars each. 

150. Government. — With Mexican independence came 
new political customs. In 1822 the people elected the 
members of an " electoral college " to choose a Territorial 
legislature and a Deputy to represent New Mexico in the 
Mexican Congress. That was the first general election in 
New Mexico. Furthermore, any town of a thousand inhab- 
itants might have an ayuntamiento (a-yoon-ta-myan'to), 
or popular common council. A judicial system was out- 
lined by the Constitution of 1836, but never organized 
in New Mexico. 

The governor was still appointed by the authorities at 
Mexico City, though generally from a list of persons named 
by the New Mexico legislature. Until 1837 ne was 
known as Jefe Politico (ha/ fa po-le'te-ko), or Political Chief 
of the Territory, then as Governor of the Department. 
After 1837 ne controlled all departments of the govern- 
ment almost as completely as in Spanish times (sec. 121). 
The Department was divided into three districts, each 
under a prefect appointed by the governor. These dis- 
tricts were again divided (by decree of 1844) into seven 
countries — Taos, Rio Arriba (ar-re'ba), Santa Fe, San 
Miguel del Bado, Santa Ana, Bernalillo, and Valencia — 
with alcaldes, cr justices of the peace, nominated by the 
prefect and appointed by the governor. 

151. The End of the Mexican Era. — This centralized 
scheme of government was a part of the general plan of 
the dictator, General Santa Anna, who was many times 
president of the Mexican Republic; but it had little 
strength of its own because it was not deeply rooted in the 



126 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

affections of the people. Nor was it likely to gain in popu- 
larity in the hands of an autocrat like Governor Armijo. 
Only a slight jar would be necessary to cause the whole 
structure to topple down. Such a jar came from events 
taking place in Mexico City, on the Rio Grande in southern 
Texas, and in the United States. 

GENERAL READINGS 

H. H. Bancroft, History of Arizona and New Mexico, 310-343. 

L. B. Bloom, "New Mexico under Mexican Administration," in Old 
Santa Fe, I, 3-49, 131-175, 235-287, 347~3o8; II, 3-56, 119-169, 223-277, 
351-380. The best account of the Mexican period. 

L. B. Prince, A Concise History of New Mexico, 148-155, 159-174. 

B. M. Read, Illustrated History of New Mexico, 363-415. 

R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, II, 3-90, 
103-138, 146-193. 

J. H. Vaughan, History of Education in New Mexico, Chapter IV. 

SPECIAL TOPICS 

1. The Santa Fe Trail. H. M. Chittenden, The American Fur Trade 
of the Far West, II, 530-553; H. Inman, The Old Santa Fe Trail, 27-101. 

2. Character and Importance of the Santa Fe Trade. H. M. 
Chittenden, Same as above, II, 489-529; F. L. Paxson, The Last American 
Frontier, 53-69 ; Josiah Gregg, The Commerce of the Prairies, or, The Journal 
of a Santa Fe Trader, 1831-1839. 

3. The Southwestern Fur Trade. R. G. Thwaites (ed.), The Per- 
sonal Narrative of James 0. Pattie of Kentucky ("Early Western Travels" 
Series, XVIII); T. M. Marshall, "St. Vrain's Expedition to the Gila in 
1826," in Southwestern Historical Quarterly, XIX (Jan., 1916), 251-260, also 
in The Pacific Ocean in History, 429-438. 

4. The Texas-Santa Fe Expedition. T. M. Marshall, "Commercial 
Aspects of the Texas Santa Fe Expedition," in Southwestern Historical 
Quarterly, XX (Jan., 191 7), 242-259; G. W. Kendall, Narrative of the Texas- 
Santa Fe Expedition, 2 vols. 

5. Political and Social Conditions in Mexico. J. H. Smith, The 
War with Mexico, I, 1-57. 

6. Relations between the United States and Mexico, 1825-1846. 
J. H. Smith, The War with Mexico, I, 58-1 11 ; G. L. Rives, The United StaU < 
and Mexico, 1821-1848. 2 vols. 



THE MEXICAN PERIOD 127 



QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1 . Who is called the Father of the Santa Fe Trade ? Why ? Why did 
he succeed where so many others had failed? 

2. Of what importance was the fur trade? W T hy do we know so much 
less about it than about the overland trade? 

3. Why was the overland trade popular with the Americans? New 
Mexicans ? New Mexican officers ? 

4. What would a caravan coming west be loaded with? Going east? 
How profitable was the business? 

5. Trace the Santa Fe Trail on your map, indicating important points. 

6. Give an account of the overland journey. What was the usual 
"freight rate" to Santa Fe? 

7. Why did not this commerce receive more support from the American 
government ? 

8. When was communication with California first established? Trace 
the Gila Trail ; the Spanish Trail. 

9. Mention some of the earliest American pioneers in New Mexico. 
What do you know about Kit Carson? 

10. What were the causes of the revolutionary disturbance in 1837- 
1838? How did General Armijo get control of affairs? 

n. What were the results of the revolt? Was New Mexico better off 
for it? Why? How did it affect the overland trade? 

12. What were the objects of the Texas-Santa Fe Expedition? Why 
did it fail in both? How did it affect the Santa Fe trade? American resi- 
dents of New Mexico? 

13. What Indians were most troublesome during this period? Why 
were they still uncontrolled? 

14. What were the conditions of travel within New Mexico? Of com- 
munication with the outside world? 

15. What changes came over New Mexican commerce in this period? 
Agriculture? 

16. What were the chief industrial activities of the region? 

17. Why was there so little progress in education? When was printing 
introduced? 

18. Describe the social life and customs of the time. What were the 
chief sports and amusements? 

19. How did peons differ from slaves? 

20. What were the chief political changes at the beginning of Mexican 
independence? What changes were made by the Mexican Constitution 
of 1836? 

21. Why was Mexico in danger of losing New Mexico? 



CHAPTER IX 

THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION 
I. CAUSES OF THE MEXICAN WAR 

152. Anarchy in Mexico. — Republican government in 
Mexico was so unstable that by 1832 General Santa Anna 
was able to overthrow the constitution and set up a dictator- 
ship. Many of the Mexican states rose in revolt against 
him and in defense of the constitution. Texas, whose 
people came largely from the United States, was the natural 
leader in such a movement. The American element there 
had but recently helped to conquer the western wilderness 
and to build the new States in the Mississippi Valley and 
would not be satisfied to live long under a military dictator- 
ship anywhere. The struggle rapidly became a revolu- 
tion. Texas declared her independence and won it at San 
Jacinto (ha-sen'to), April 21, 1836. 

American life and property were already unsafe in 
Mexico, and the Texan revolution made the situation 
worse ; for many Americans, especially Westerners, had 
sympathized with the Texans and helped them in their 
struggle for independence. All over Mexico from that 
time on Americans were mistreated, their property was 
destroyed, and no redress could be had. We have already 
seen instances in New Mexico in 1837 an d again in 1841 
and 1843 (sees. 134-137, 139-142). Claims for damages 
to property alone quickly mounted into the millions (sec. 

128 



THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION 



129 



181) ; but payment was not forthcoming. The story of 
the sufferings of American citizens who had accompanied 
the Texas-Santa Fe Expedition, drifting back into the 
United States in the summer of 1842, added to the diffi- 
culties of the situation. 

153. The Annexation of Texas. — The Westerners were 
clearly impatient because their government failed to take 
more vigorous action to- „ __ T _ 




ward Mexico. Mean- 
while a steady stream of 
pioneers from the Missis- 
sippi Valley was pouring 
into the Republic of 
Texas, yet longing for 
the protection of the 
Stars and Stripes to fol- 
low them. 

Back in the United 
States, however, the 
movement for the annex- 
ation of Texas was hin- 
dered by the controversy 

1 .1 . President James K. Polk, 1845-1840 

over slavery then going J ' ^° ^ y 

on between the North and the South. Because Texas lay 
next to the slave States the Abolitionist forces of the North 
and East opposed the annexation of Texas, while the whole 
country was clamoring for the acquisition of Oregon. But 
the spirit of expansion won. James K. Polk's campaign 
cry (1844) of the " reoccupation of Oregon " and the 
" reannexation of Texas " summed up this spirit and re- 
minded the Americans that they had once had a shadowy 
claim to Texas as a part of the Louisiana Purchase. They 



j 



130 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

gave the policy a clear indorsement at the polls that fall, 
and Texas was annexed the following year. 

154. The Controversy over Texas. — The Texan Re- 
public in 1836 had defined its boundaries to include all 
former Mexican territory east of the Rio Grande. Presi- 
dent Polk, recognizing that much of this region, especially 
eastern New Mexico, was historically Mexican territory 
separate and distinct from Texas, immediately sent a 
representative to Mexico to settle the boundary question 
in a just and friendly manner — offering to buy the whole 
disputed region. 

But Mexico refused to discuss the boundary or even to 
hear the President's proposals for a peaceable settlement. 
She still claimed that all of Texas was hers, though that 
country had been an independent Republic for nine years — 
recognized by the United States, England, France, and 
other European countries - — before annexation. Mexico 
insisted that Texas was still one of her Departments. The 
worn-out theory that the trouble was over some " disputed 
territory " lying between the Nueces and the Rio Grande 
was pure fiction manufactured in the United States and 
never recognized by any Mexican until the armies faced 
each other across the Rio Grande at Matamoros (ma-ta- 
mo'ros) in April, 1846. Then, for the first time, General 
Ampudia (am-poo'thya) took advantage of the American 
myth of the " disputed territory " and ordered General 
Taylor back across the Nueces. 

The territory in actual dispute was the whole State of 
Texas to the Sabine River. But Texas was already under 
the Stars and Stripes ; and no American, not even the 
most conservative Easterner, thought of discussing that 
question. President Polk, therefore, sent Brigadier General 



THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION 



13 



Zachary Taylor with an " Army of Occupation " to pro- 
tect the southwestern boundary of Texas — A merican 




territory — from invasion until such time as Mexico should 
be ready to make a reasonable settlement. 



132 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

155. The Spirit of Expansion. — This was the heroic 
age in the westward expansion of the American people. 
The movement for New Mexico and California was rooted 
in the ancient land-hunger of the race and in the restless, 
pushing energy of the western pioneer with his feeling of 
manifest destiny to rule the continent. " The Westerners," 
said the late Theodore Roosevelt, " honestly believed 
themselves to be indeed created the heirs of the earth, or 
at least so much of it as was known by the name, of North 
America, and were prepared to struggle stoutly for the 
immediate possession of their heritage." Texas was already 
American. The commerce of New Mexico was completely 
Americanized (sees. 124-127, 138, 145); and the same 
process was going on in California. 

156. The Commencement of Hostilities. — In March, 
1846, Mexico definitely refused to discuss Texas or the 
boundary question, and General Taylor moved his Army 
of Occupation from Corpus Christi to the Rio Grande 
opposite Matamoros. On April 24 the Mexican commander 
sent word that hostilities had begun, and his troops began 
to cross to the American side of the river. ; The following 
day they fell upon a detachment of Talyor's men, killed 
eleven, wounded six others, and. captured the remainder. 
The fateful blow had been struck. When the news reached 
Washington, President Polk laid the whole situation before 
Congress, May 1 1 , 1846. "Mexico has passed the boundary 
of the United States, has invaded our territory and shed 
American blood upon American soil ... war exists, and, 
notwithstanding all our efforts to avoid it, exists by the 
act of Mexico herself." - . 

Congress immediately recognized the existence of war, 
and the War Department. made plans for striking at three 



THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION 



133 



different points at the same time. (1) General Taylor's 
"Army of Occupation " was to cross the Rio Grande and 
move toward Mexico City. (2) General John E. Wool's 
" Army of the Center " from San Antonio was to march 
on Chihuahua. (3) Colonel Stephen W. Kearny with a 
new "Army of the West," to be assembled at Fort Leaven- 
worth, was to occupy New Mexico and California. The 
Vera Cruz expedition under General Winneld Scott, which 
brought into the field a fourth army, was not planned until 
the following November. 



II. THE OCCUPATION OF NEW MEXICO 

157. Kearny and the Army of the West. — Colonel 
Kearny was a professional soldier of first-rate ability, wide 
experience, high charac- 
ter, and with no political 
fortunes to be cared for. 
He was promoted to the 
rank of brigadier general 
just after leaving Fort 
Leavenworth. His army 
for the conquest of the 
northern provinces of 
Mexico consisted of 1,658 
men. 

Colonel Sterling Price's 
force of 1,200 and the 
Mormon Battalion of 500 
following later increased 
his command to nearly 
3,400 men, though none of these reinforcements reached 
New Mexico until Kearny had gone on to California. 




General Stephen W. Kearny 



134 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



158. The March to Bent's Fort. — The last days of 
June and the first week in July (1846) Kearny's forces 
strung out across the plains with a supply train of a hun- 
dred wagons and more than a thousand pack mules, and 
was accompanied by the annual traders' caravan of four 
hundred and fourteen white-covered " prairie schooners" 
with nearly a million dollars' worth of goods bound for 




Courtesy of R. E. Twitcht 

Kearny's Army on the March 



Santa Fe and Chihuahua, over the well-known Santa 
Fe Trail. After a month's steady marching they crossed 
to the south side of the Arkansas, about nine miles below 
Bent's Fort. Here they made a brief stop in order that 
the various detachments might come together and march 
into the country of the New Mexicans as one effective unit. 
159. Entering New Mexico. — Crossing the Raton Pass 
and following the trail by the Wagon Mound, Kearny 
entered Las Vegas on the morning of August 15, assembled 



THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION 



135 



the people in the plaza (plasa), or public square, and 
addressed them through Antonio Roubidoux, the inter- 
preter (sec. 132). He absolved them from all allegiance 
to the Mexican government and to General Armijo and 
proclaimed himself governor, promising protection to 
their persons, property, and religion, " the weak as well 
as the strong ; the poor as well as the rich." 




Courtesy of R. E. Twitchell 

General Kearny Addressing the People at Las Vegas 



Moving on toward Santa Fe ; General Kearny made 
brief stops at Tecolote (ta-ko-lo'ta), San Miguel, and Pecos, 
and repeated substantially the performance at Las Vegas 
— read his proclamation, accepted oaths of allegiance, and 
passed quietly on. 

160. The Approach to Apache Canyon. — From the 
time Kearny reached Bent's Fort reports had been coming 
in from various sources that the New Mexicans were 
making feverish preparations to resist the American 
advance. He, therefore, sent Captain Philip St. George 
Cooke ahead to Santa Fe to negotiate with General Armijo 



136 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



for the peaceful surrender of the Department. Cooke's 
description of Armijo is worth recording : he was " a large, 
fine looking man, although his complexion was a shade or 
two darker than the dubious and varying Spanish; he 
wore a blue frock coat, with a rolling collar and a general's 
shoulder straps, blue striped trousers with gold lace, and 
a red sash." 

Though cordially received by the Governor, Cooke got 
no assurance except that Armijo would resist with his 
whole force. And a few days later the news reached 
Kearny that Armijo had four thousand men with six 
cannon stationed at Apache Canyon, fifteen miles from 
Santa Fe, to give battle in a position so strong by nature 
that the Americans could hardly hope to force the passage. 




Courtesy of R. E. Tuitche 

General Kearny Addressing the People in Santa Fe, August 19, 1846 

161. The " Americans " Enter Santa Fe. — But when 
the American army filed into the canyon on the morning of 
August 18, Armijo's forces had broken up and left, and 



THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION 137 

the General and his personal followers were in hurried 
flight down the Rio Grande. By sundown the army was 
encamped on the hills above the town of Santa Fe, General 
Kearny was in the Palace of the Governors, and the Stars 
and Stripes were floating over the plaza. A salute of 
thirteen guns announced the end of the Mexican period and 
the beginning of the American. " Here," says Lieutenant 
Emory, " all persons from the United States are called 
Americans, and the name is extended to no other race on 
the continent." 

On the following morning (August 19) General Kearny 
assembled the people in the plaza, explained to them that 
he had come to take possession of the country for the United 
States, and proclaimed them American citizens. Acting 
Governor Juan Bautista Vigil pledged his loyalty to the 
new government. Many Pueblo governors and even the 
Navajo chiefs came in and promised friendship. 

162. A Bloodless Conquest. — Without firing a shot 
General Kearny had captured Santa Fe and the whole 
Department of New Mexico. Accustomed to frequent 
political changes during the Mexican period, neglected 
by the Mexican government, and already drawn into 
close business relations with the American West, the New 
Mexicans accepted the change with slight opposition and 
welcomed the prospect of becoming American citizens. 
Unfortunately, however, in declaring the people citizens 
Kearny had gone beyond the power of any commander, and 
much dissatisfaction resulted. 

Five days after their arrival the troops began the erection 
of Fort Marcy on the high hill northeast of the town, 
the first American military post in New Mexico 

163. The New Government. — With the march to Cali- 



138 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



fornia ahead and winter coming on, General Kearny 
hastened to organize a new government for New Mexico 
as a Territory of the United States. September 22 he 
appointed Charles Bent, governor; Donaciano (do-na- 
sya'no) Vigil, secretary; Joab Houghton, Antonio Jose 
Otero, and Charles Beaubien, judges of the superior court. 
Bent, the new governor, was an old pioneer with in- 
fluential business and social connections. A Virginian 

by birth, a West Pointer by 
training, a fur trader and mer- 
chant by occupation, he was a 
New Mexican by choice of resi- 
dence and family ties. He had 
come to Santa Fe as early as 
1826 and had married into the 
prominent and wealthy Jaramillo 
family of Taos. He was a part- 
ner in the firm of Bent and St. 
Vrain, the largest fur- trading 
concern in the Southwest, and 
had extensive business interests 
in Santa Fe and elsewhere. He knew New Mexico and 
New Mexican conditions and enjoyed the confidence and 
respect of the New Mexican people. 

164. The " Organic Act " and the " Kearny Code." — 
Kearny's Organic Act provided a complete Territorial 
form of government, granted the right to vote to all free 
male citizens, and fixed the first Monday in August, 1847, 
as the date of the first election for Delegate to Congress 
and members of the Territorial legislature. But the newest 
feature of it was the Bill of Rights, so characteristic of 
English liberty everywhere, guaranteeing freedom of 




Donaciano Vigil 



THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION 139 

speech and the press, of religion, of assembly and petition, 
as well as the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus and 
the right of trial by jury. 

The Kearny Code of laws for the new Territory em- 
braced many old and well-known customs, but contained 
the unfortunate provision that all land titles held under 
grants from the Spanish and Mexican governments must 
be registered within five years, or forfeited. Though 
meant to clear up titles, it aroused much suspicion lest it 
might be the first step in a policy of seizing the best 
lands. 

165. General Kearny Leaves for California. — With the 
new government fully established and everything quiet, 
Kearny set out for California, September 25. A few miles 
below Socorro he met Kit Carson, the great pathfinder 
(sec. 133), on his way to Washington with news of the con- 
quest of California by Stockton and Fremont. Kearny 
sent most of his force back to Albuquerque and proceeded 
westward with a hundred cavalry and a small pack train. 
Knowing that Carson had just come over the Gila Trail 
(sec. 131), he sent the messages on to Washington by other 
hands and asked the great pathfinder to turn back to the 
coast as guide for the American troops. Carson's sense 
of patriotic duty was so high that he willingly gave up his 
journey to Washington and the visit to his family at Taos, 
but a few days away, and turned his face again to the 
western mountains and the Pacific. 

Kearny crossed the Colorado River into California 
November 25, just in time to play a decisive part in the 
Second Conquest of the great Pacific coast province ; for 
the Californians had risen in revolt and undone the work 
of the preceding season. 



140 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



166. Doniphan's Navajo Campaign. — Colonel Alexan- 
der W. Doniphan was left in charge of New Mexico with 
orders to march southward to assist General Wool's Army 
of the Center (sec. 156) in the conquest of Chihuahua as 
soon as Colonel Sterling Price arrived with his Missouri 
Mounted Volunteers to take command in New Mexico. 

In the meantime, however, the 
raids of the thieving Navajos 
became so bold that Doniphan 
had to make a campaign against 
them before starting to Chi- 
huahua. 

Over high monutains and 
through deep snows, he swept 
across the Continental Divide 
and into the very heart of the 
Navajo country in the northwest 
and forced the Navajos to make 
a treaty at Bear Spring, in 
which they promised to restore 
prisoners and property and to stop their plundering raids 
— a mere " scrap of paper "to be broken as soon as the 
troops were gone. 

167. The March to Chihuahua. — Doniphan was now 
ready to start southward. The traders' caravan (sec. 158) 
accompanied him down the Rio Grande over the same route 
that had been followed by the Spanish pioneers and their 
descendants for nearly three centuries. 

On the afternoon of Christmas Day (1846), just after 
they went into camp at Brazito (bra-se'to), twelve miles 
below Dona Ana, they were attacked by a force of twelve 
hundred Mexicans. Within forty minutes the enemy were 




Colonel Alexander W. 
Doniphan 



THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION 141 

fleeing southward in utter rout. Two days later, without 
opposition, the Americans occupied the old Spanish town of 
El Paso del Norte (now Juarez). 

168. The Capture of Chihuahua. — Here Doniphan 
learned that General Wool had abandoned his expedition 
against Chihuahua (sec. 158) in order to cooperate with 
General Taylor in the campaign around Monterey. Before 
marching on Chihuahua, therefore, he sent back to Santa 
Fe for reinforcements. Meanwhile the merchants rented 
store rooms and did a thriving business. Their loads were 
lighter when the march was resumed in February. 

At Sacramento Pass, fifteen miles north of Chihuahua, 
Doniphan found the Mexican Army of the North, four 
thousand strong, intrenched and ready to dispute the pas- 
sage. Again the Americans carried everything before 
them. The Mexicans fled toward Durango. Doniphan 
entered Chihuahua, March 1, and two months later started 
east to join General Wool at Saltillo (sal-te'yo). But 
the story of that movement would carry us beyond the 
limits of this book. 

169. Colonel Cooke's Wagon Trail to California. — Thus 
far we have had no record of any overland traffic to Cali- 
fornia except by pack train. General Kearny, however, 
left Captain Cooke, now promoted to the rank of lieutenant 
colonel, with instructions to conduct his wagon train of 
supplies through to the coast. Cooke did not turn west 
from the Rio Grande by the Copper Mine Trail, as Kearny 
had done, but continued down to the region of Fort Thorne 
in the Rincon country and swung away to the southwest 
through the Mimbres Valley to the San Pedro River, out 
through Tucson (too-scn') to the Gila and on to California. 

This route entirely avoided the rough mountainous 



142 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

country of the Gila Trail a short distance to the north, and 
was the most practical caravan route to the coast that had 
yet been found. It opened the first wagon road across the 
continent to California and became the determining factor 
in the Gadsden Purchase when the United States planned 
to build a railroad to the Pacific a few years later. It is 
closely followed to-day by the Santa Fe Railroad from 
Rincon to Deming ; by the El Paso and Southwestern from 
Deming by Douglas to Benson, Arizona; and by the 
Southern Pacific from Benson by Tuscon to the Gila and 
down to the Colorado. 

GENERAL READINGS 

H. H. Bancroft, History of Arizona and New Mexico, 408-428. 

P. St. Geo. Cooke, The Conquest of New Mexico and California. 

J. M. Cutts, The Conquest of California and New Mexico. 

L. B. Prince, A Concise History of New Mexico, 178-182. 

B. M. Read, Illustrated History of New Mexico, 415-445. 

J. H. Smith, The War with Mexico. 2 vols. (The standard authority on 
the Mexican War.) 

R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, II, 194- 
228; The Military Occupation of the Territory of New Mexico, 1846-185 1, 
17-121. 

SPECIAL TOPICS 

1. Texan Independence and Annexation. G. P. Garrison, West- 
ward Extension, 1841-1850 ("American Nation" Series, XVII), 85-156; 
R. M. McElroy, The Winning of the Far West, 1-85 ; E. D. Adams, British 
Interests and Activities in Texas, 1838-1846. 

2. The Spirit of Expansion. T. Roosevelt, Thomas Hart Benton 
("American Statesmen" Series), 23-68, 157-183. 

3. Preliminaries of the Mexican War. G. P. Garrison, Same as 
above, 188-227; R. M. McElroy, Same as above, 130-176; J. H. Smith, 
The War with Mexico, I, n 7-1 55, 181-203. 

4. The Army of the West. J. H. Smith, Same as above. I, 181-224; 
J. T. Hughes, Doniphan's Expedition, 21-83. 

5. The Occupation of Santa Fe. J. H. Smith, Same as above, I, 184- 
297; R. M. McElroy, Same' as above, 177-188; J. T. Hughes, Same as 
above, 78-119. 



THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION 143 

6. Doniphan's Expedition. J. H. Smith, Same as above, I, 298-314; 
J. T. Hughes, Same as above, 143-203, 255-386. 

7. The California Campaign. J. H. Smith, Same as above, I, 315- 
346; P. St. Geo. Cooke, The Conquest of Ne Mexico and California, 125- 
307; R. M. McElroy, Same as above, 188-202; J. T. Hughes, Same as 
above, 120-142, 204-254. 

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. What caused the revolutionary movements in Mexico? Why were 
the Texans natural leaders ? 

2. In what way were Americans concerned? What view did the West- 
erners take? 

3. What was the chief objection to the annexation of Texas? Why did 
Polk's annexation policy carry? 

4. Why was not the Texan boundary peaceably settled? What was 
the ' 'disputed territory " ? 

5. Can you give other examples of the "spirit of expansion" in American 
history? 

6. How did the Mexican War begin? What was the American plan of 
operations? 

7. How large was Kearny's Army of the West? Trace the route it fol- 
lowed to New Mexico. 

8. Relate interesting incidents of the Occupation. 

9. Outline the new government set up by General Kearny. What was 
the "Organic Act"? The "Kearny Code"? How was the government 
improved ? 

10. Why did Kearny go on to California? What news did Kit Carson 
bring? Why did he go back to California? 

11. What were Doniphan's plans? W T hy was he delayed in starting 
south? Give an account of his Chihuahua campaign. 

12. Trace Cooke's wagon trail to California. Why is it especially im- 
portant? 



CHAPTER X 



PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT, 1846-1851 




170. Trouble Brewing. — When Colonel Doniphan left 
for Chihuahua in the fall of 1846, Colonel Sterling Price's 
forces for the control of the newly acquired Territory 
numbered about two thousand men, mainly undisciplined 
volunteers with little or no military experience. Most 

of them were stationed at Santa 
Fe ; and although they com- 
pleted Fort Marcy that fall and 
, winter, they still had abundant 
I time for getting into trouble in 
the town. 

.^ The situation was difficult at 

best. A people but recently con- 

wM JM Hf quered was now under military 

^H ^m control. The land-owning class 

^LJB |F^ was suspicious and uneasy. 

""^^aSP*' Many of the volunteers who had 

Governor Charles Bent been deserted by General Armijo 

at Apache Canyon were lingering around Santa Fe to see 
what would happen. And there were many patriotic New 
Mexicans whose hearts burned with indignation at the 
thought of surrendering their country without striking a 
blow in its defense. 

171. The Revolutionary Plot. — General Kearny and 
Colonel Doniphan were not out of the Territory before 

144 



PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT 



145 



rumors of discontent began to be heard. Early in Decem- 
ber the leading revolutionary spirits held secret meetings in 
Santa Fe and laid their plans to strike a sudden blow 
that would shake off American control before it became 
too firmly rooted. Certainly it was not treason for them 
to rise up and try to expel the foreign enemy in time of war. 

Midnight of December 19 was the hour set for a general 
uprising throughout the Territory. In Santa Fe the peal 
of the parish church bell was to be the signal for beginning 
the bloody work. But their plans were not all ready for 

the nineteenth; and the __ , 

uprising was postponed I 
until Christmas Eve, 
when the soldiers would 
be down town unarmed 
attending the dances and 
other festivities. The 
delay was fatal. The 
plot leaked out, and the 
leaders fled or were im- 
prisoned. 

172. The Outbreak at 
Taos. — The revolution- 
ary spirit, however, was )| 

not dead. It was wait- 
er U1 A Modern Taos Type 
mg a more favorable 

opportunity. That opportunity came when Governor 

Bent went to his home in Taos in January, 1847. Taos, 

the old trading center on the northern frontier with a 

population from everywhere, had a liberal quota of men 

whose chief means of livelihood was to stir up trouble. 

No sooner had the Governor reached the town than a 




I46 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

few of these desperate characters and their Indian allies 
began to lay their plans for foul business. Pablo Montoya, 
Manuel Cortes, and a Taos Indian named Tomasito (to- 
ma-se'to) Romero were the leaders. The Pueblos, resent- 
ful at being punished in the new courts and fearing that the 
Americans were going to take their tribal lands away from 
them, fell easy victims to the plot. 

During the early morning hours of January 19 a mob 
of Indians came down from the pueblo of Taos and were 
joined by the revolutionists of the town. They broke 
down the door of Governor Bent's house, filled his body 
with arrows, and scalped him alive. Then they murdered 
five others and wound up their orgy of crime by sacking 
the houses of the American residents of Taos, many of 
whom fled for their lives. 

173. The Revolt Spreads. — The same day that the 
Governor was murdered seven men were killed and one was 
wounded at Turley's Mill, twelve miles northwest of Taos, 
and two others were killed a little farther north. The 
next day at Mora a band under Manuel Cortes, who had 
fled from Taos, robbed and shot a company of eight or 
nine traders on their way to the Missouri frontier. 

The north, particularly the Taos Valley, began organiz- 
ing a revolutionary army to march on Santa Fe. Mes- 
sengers rushed away to the settlements down the Rio 
Grande, urging the people to rise in revolt. 

174. Colonel Price Marches on Taos. — But quickness 
of action was not all on one side. Swift couriers carried 
the news over the snow-covered mountains to Santa Fe ; 
and on January 23 Colonel Price started for Taos with 
three hundred and fifty-three men, including St. Vrain's 
company of Santa Fe volunteers. Among them were 



PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT 



147 




Colonel Sterling Price 



Manuel Chaves and Nicolas Pino, both prominent New 
Mexicans who had been arrested the month before for 
taking part in the earlier plots at Santa Fe, but who now 
set themselves sternly against the ~ 
murderous movement at Taos. 

At La Canada and again at 
Embudo on the way northward 
Colonel Price met the insurgents 
in hot skirmishes and put them 
to rout. He reached Taos on 
February 3 and on the following 
morning surrounded the pueblo, 
in which the insurgents had taken 
refuge, and began a steady can- 
nonade. By the middle of the 
afternoon they were in flight 
toward the mountains. Next morning the Indians delivered 
Tomasito Romero to Colonel Price and begged for peace. 

175. The Revolt Crushed. — Tomasito was shot by a 
soldier in the guard house ; Pablo Montoya, the ringleader, 
was court-martialed and shot; Pablo Chaves had been 
killed in battle ; fourteen other conspirators were convicted 
and executed for the murder of Governor Bent. 

Manuel Cortes alone of the leading conspirators was still 
at large. He continued his bandit operations on the east 
side of the mountains throughout the summer. Chance 
engagements occurred at Mora, Las Vegas, Red River 
Canyon, and Anton Chico. But the revolt had failed, 
and one lesson was clear : American control was an estab- 
lished fact. 

176. Civil Government under Military Control. — The 
excitement caused by the uprising, however, threw the 



1 48 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

whole government of the Territory into the hands of the 
army and left hardly more than the name of civil govern- 
ment for the next four years. 

Governor Bent was succeeded by Donaciano Vigil. The 
first and only session of the Legislative Assembly author- 
ized by Kearny's Organic Act (sec. 164) was held in Santa 
Fe in December (1847). Its acts were approved by the 
governor and by Colonel Price as commander of the Military 
Department. The will of the commanding officer was law. 
And when Governor Vigil went out of office in October, 
1848, Colonel John M. Washington, commander of the 
Department, assumed the functions of civil and military 
governor. Colonel John Munroe, his successor a year later, 
held the same position until the organization of the Terri- 
torial government, March 3, 1851. That such a government 
should enjoy any great popularity was too much to expect. 

177. The Close of the Mexican War. — While these 
events were taking place in New Mexico, General Taylor 
had overwhelmed Santa Anna at Buena Vista (bwa/na 
ves'ta), and General Scott had fought his way to the 
heart of the Republic and captured Mexico City itself. 
The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed February 2, 1848, 
and ratified May 30, provided (1) that Mexico should 
give up all claim to territory east of the Rio Grande and 
cede New Mexico and Upper California to the United 
States ; (2) that the United States should pay to Mexico 
$15,000,000 besides paying off $3,250,000 of the claims of 
American citizens against Mexico (sec. 152) ; (3) that the 
inhabitants of the ceded territory should become American 
citizens unless they moved out or formally declared within 
a year their intention to retain their Mexican citizenship; 
and (4) that they should be " admitted at the proper time 



PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT 149 

(to be judged by the Congress of the United States) to the 
enjoyment of all the rights of citizens of the United States." 

178. The Conventions of 1848 and 1849. — A conven- 
tion of delegates called by the Legislative Assembly of 
December, 1847 ( sec - I 7^)) for the following February did 
not meet until October. In a four days' session at Santa 
Fe it protested against the Texan claim to the east side of 
the Rio Grande (sees. 139, 189) and the introduction of 
slavery, and petitioned Congress for the speedy organiza- 
tion of a Territorial government " purely civil in its char- 
acter." Reaching Washington at a time when the great 
anti-slavery agitation had Congress in its grip, this petition 
secured no results. 

But the war was over, and the people were restless under 
the continuance of war-time government. Another con- 
vention, therefore, met in September, 1849, adopted a 
regular plan of Territorial civil government, and sent 
Hugh N. Smith as Delegate to Congress to urge the 
approval of the plan. If that proved impossible, he was 
to work for statehood. But Congress denied him a seat, 
and another hope was blasted. 

179. The First Political Parties. — Out of this agitation 
for organized civil government the first political parties 
developed. One sought the admission of New Mexico 
as a State ; the other wanted it organized as a Territory. 
Consequently they were known as the " State party " 
and the " Territorial party." In general, the leaders of the 
native New Mexicans favored statehood, while the Ameri- 
can pioneer element wanted a Territorial organization. 
The reason for this division is obvious. All important 
officials in a Territory are appointed by the President; 
in a State they are elected by the people. 



i5° 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



180. The First Statehood Movement. — The State 
party was aroused to action in the summer of 1849 by the 
news that President Taylor desired to see New Mexico 
admitted as a State so that her people might settle the 
slavery question for themselves. He had the soldier's 
directness of action and was disgusted with the slavery 
controversy that was preventing proper legislation for the 
newly acquired territory. Slavery in high, semi-arid New 
Mexico was prohibited by "an ordinance of nature," 
anyway. 

181. The Constitutional Convention of 1850. — In 
May, 1850, therefore, a constitutional convention met in 




New Mexico as Bounded by the "State" Constitution of 1850 

Santa Fe and framed a constitution for the State of New 
Mexico. The contest for ratification was a drawn battle 
between the military party then in control and the people 
seeking self-government. The constitution itself was an 
excellent one, defining the boundaries as beginning at El 



PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT 151 

Paso (now Juarez) and running east to the hundredth 
meridian, north to the Arkansas, up that river to its source, 
thence to where the one hundred and eleventh meridian 
crosses the Colorado River, south to the Gila, and back to 
El Paso on the international boundary — as near a proper 
historic boundary for the Spanish and Mexican province 
of New Mexico as can be found anywhere. Over all this 
vast region restless New Mexican pioneers and adventurers 
had hunted, prospected, trapped, and fought Indians for 
three centuries. Historically it was their country. And 
many portions of the Rocky Mountains as far north as 
Wyoming were probably well known to them. 

182. The " State " Government of 1850. — The new 
constitution was ratified, June 20, by the decisive vote of 
6,771 to 39. William S. Messervy was elected Delegate to 
Congress, and a legislature and State officers were chosen 
at the same time. Henry Connelly, a Kentuckian, who 
had been engaged in trade at Chihuahua since 1828, and 
who had recently transferred his business interests to New 
Mexico, was elected governor with Manuel Alvarez (al'va- 
ras) as lieutenant governor. But Connelly was absent in 
the States, and Alvarez took office as acting governor. 
The legislature met, July 1, elected Francis A. Cunningham 
and Richard H. Weightman United States Senators, and 
drew up a memorial to Congress, denouncing the military 
officials and their high-handed methods of controlling the 
government, and asking admission as a State. 

This new " State " government, however, soon came to 
grief, as had the effort at " Territorial " government the 
preceding year. Colonel John Munroe, commander of the 
Department, forbade the exercise of any authority under 
the new government until it was recognized by Congress. 



152 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

" Governor " Alvarez was powerless. Moreover, when the 
constitution reached Washington that fall, the Com- 
promise of 1850 was in its final stages, and the Organic 
Act for the Territory of New Mexico (sec. 185) was signed 
by the President the very day this constitution reached 
the Senate. The first effort to secure statehood had failed. 

183. Beginning of the Overland Mail. — On August 25, 
1846, one week after the occupation of Santa Fe, General 
Kearny started swift riders across the plains to Inde- 
pendence, Missouri, bearing the romantic story of the march 
to New Mexico and the bloodless conquest of the country. 
This was the official beginning of the overland mail be- 
tween Santa Fe and Independence, or Fort Leavenworth, 
carried by daring horsemen and stage drivers more than a 
dozen years before the first ride on the trail of the better 
known " Pony Express " farther north. Until the close 
of the war the service was irregular, each mail being carried 
under special contract at a cost of about $600 for the round 
trip to Fort Leavenworth and back to Santa Fe. A 
similar special-contract mail service to California was soon 
started. In March, 1848, the go\ernment paid $1,000 
for a trip to the coast and back. 

184. The Coming of the Stagecoach. — In 1849 a 
regular stage line was established between Independence 
and Santa Fe, making the round trip once a month and 
carrying the mail by yearly contract. The passenger fare 
was $250 each way, including fifty pounds of baggage, 
with a charge of fifty cents a pound for excess baggage. 
In the fifties the fare was reduced to $150. Though irregu- 
lar in the early years, this service was later increased to 
once a week and later still to three times a week. Finally 
in 1868 daily service was undertaken. Kansas City became 



PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT 



153 



the eastern end of the line about 1850 and continued so 
most of the time until the railroad started west and the 
end of the stage line moved westward with it. 

The journey of seven hundred and seventy-five miles was 
planned to take about two weeks and to be made without 




The Overland Stage Crossing a Mountain Pass 

From Marvels of the New West 



any stops except at the relay stations along the trail to 
get fresh horses and a hurried meal of meat, bread, and black 
coffee here and there. Otherwise the passengers would 
take only such rest and sleep as they could get while the 
huge, clumsy stagecoach rumbled along over the plains 



154 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

and mountains. Though the service was generally much 
slower than this, travel to and from the States was strenu- 
ous business. 

The great stagecoach carried ten passengers and the 
conductor, or messenger, in charge of the mail and valuable 
express. " Freighting " over the Trail, too, was a business 
in itself, and one of large proportions. 

GENERAL READINGS 

H. H. Bancroft, History of Arizona and New Mexico, 428-467. 

P. St. Geo. Cooke, The Conquest of New Mexico and California, 111^124. 

L. B. Prince, A Concise History of New Mexico, 182-190. 

B. M. Read, Illustrated History of New Mexico, 445-463. 

R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, II, 228- 
278; The Military Occupation of the Territory of New Mexico, 1846-1851, 
122-199. 

SPECIAL TOPICS 

1. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. J. H. Smith, The War with 
Mexico, II, 120-139, 210-252. 

2. Efforts toward Civil Government. L. B. Prince, New Mexico's 
Struggle for Statehood, 3-23; W. W. H. Davis, El Gringo, 108-113. 

3. Travel across the Plains. W. W. H. Davis, El Gringo, 13-56. 

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. How large was the American force under Colonel Price ? Would you 
expect trouble between the Americans and the New Mexicans? Why? 

2. What were the plans of the discontented? Why act quickly? 

3. Was Taos a natural place for such trouble to start? Why? 

4. Tell about the murder of Governor Bent and the spread of the revolt. 

5. What measures did Colonel Price take to put down the disturbance? 

6. What permanent effects did the revolt have? Good or bad? 

7. What were the important provisions of the treaty of Guadalupe 
Hidalgo? Which of them affected New Mexico? 

8. What was the purpose of the Conventions of 1848 and 1849?. 

9. What were the first political parties? What was the object of each? 
Why the difference? 

10. Give an account of the first statehood movement. Why did the 
" State" government of 1850 not succeed? 

11. Give an account of the beginning of the overland mail to the States, 
and to California; of a journey on the overland stagecoach. 



CHAPTER XI 

BEGINNINGS OF THE TERRITORY, 1851-1861 

185. The Organic Act. — September 9, 1850, the Presi- 
dent signed the bill which created for New Mexico a com- 
plete Territorial civil government to take the place of the 
hated, half -military, half-civil organization that had held 
sway since the American Occupation. The governor, 
secretary, judges, United States attorney, and United 
States marshal were to be appointed by the President for 
terms of four years. The Legislative Assembly, consisting 
of a Council of thirteen members and a House of Represen- 
tatives of twenty-six members, was to be elected by popular 
vote. The salaries of all these officials were to be paid by 
the United States. The governor's veto on legislation was 
absolute until the Organic Act was amended in 1868 to 
allow the legislature by a two-thirds vote to pass a measure 
over his veto. 

All county and other local officers were to be chosen 
in such a manner as might be prescribed by Territorial 
laws. The capital was to be located in the same way. 
The salaries of all these officers of local government author- 
ized by the legislature were to be provided for by taxation. 

186. Governor Calhoun. — On March 3, 1851, James S. 
Calhoun was inaugurated as first governor under the 
Organic Act. He was a Georgian and a kinsman of the 
famous statesman, John C. Calhoun. He had served 
with distinction under General Taylor in the Mexican 

155 



156 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



War and had risen to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Hence 
he had been appointed United States Indian Agent at 

Santa Fe when General 
Taylor ■ became Presi- 
dent. Two facts marked 
him as a good choice 
for governor : first, his 
excellent record in the 
difficult position of In- 
dian Agent since July, 
1849; secondly, his sym- 
pathetic support of the 
native New Mexican 
people against the In- 
dians, on the one hand, 
and the military author- 
ities and other foreigners 
on the other, during the 
trying period of provis- 
ional government (Chapter X). 

187. The First Territorial Legislature. — In the general 
election called by Governor Calhoun that spring Captain 
Richard H. Weightman, who had come to New Mexico 
in charge of a battery of • Missouri light artillery under 
General Kearny, was elected first Delegate to Congress. 
A legislature representative of both Spanish and Anglo- 
American elements was elected at the same time. • 

June 2, 185 1, the legislature met in the old Palace of the 
Governors and elected Father Antonio Jose Martinez, 
of Taos, president of the Council, and Theodore D. Whea ton, 
a Taos lawyer, speaker of the House. It fixed the capital 
at Santa Fe ; divided the territory into three judicial 




Governor James S. Calhoun 



BEGINNINGS OF THE TERRITORY 



157 



districts; passed a general election law under which all 
male citizens twenty-one years of age, except Negroes 
and soldiers, could vote ; and provided for the continuance 
of all local laws that were in harmony with the Federal 
Constitution and the Organic Act, except the hated land- 
registry law of the Kearny Code (sec. 164). 

At its second session, beginning in the following Decem- 
ber, it divided the Territory into nine counties — Taos, 




First Division of the Territory of New Mexico into 
Counties, 1851-1852 



Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Santa Ana, Bernalillo, 
Valencia, Socorro, and Dona Ana — and apportioned 
members of the Council and House of Representatives 
among them. Justice of the peace courts were then estab- 
lished; but singularly enough, both sessions of this first 
legislature came and went without the passage of any 
tax law. 

188. Financial Troubles. — Yet there was a deficit of 



158 



THE HISTORY OE NEW MEXICO 



$31,562 left by the old military government, and every 
creditor of the Territory was receiving a warrant on an 
empty treasury. Nor was there any regular source of 
public revenue. General Kearny in 1846 had abolished the 
old abuse of having every kind of legal document written on 
stamped paper sold by the government at eight dollars a 
sheet. Then the ratification of the treaty of peace, May 
30, 1848, stopping the collection of tariff duties on goods 
coming from the States, cut the last financial prop from 




^jggSS 



Fort Bliss in the Fifties 

under the provisional government and left it three years to 
run on nothing. Not until 1854 did Congress provide for 
paying the salaries of the officers of the so-called " civil " 
government under the Kearny Code from 1846 to 185 1. 

189. Settlement of the Texas-New Mexico Boundary. — 
The Organic Act which created the Territorial government 
also settled the long-standing controversy with Texas over 
the region east of the Rio Grande (sec. 139). The claim of 
Texas had always been shadowy and uncertain. The 



BEGINNINGS OF THE TERRITORY 159 

claim of the New Mexicans who had occupied the territory 
for two centuries and a half was definite and beyond reason- 
able doubt. Now that both were children of the great 
Republic it was the duty of the government to settle the 
quarrel justly. Congress, therefore, organized the New 
Mexican lands east of the Rio Grande as a part of the 
Territory and paid Texas $10,000,000 to give up her 
claim. This arrangement had the virtue of doing justice 
to New Mexico by giving her most of her ancient territory 
and at the same time " saving the face " of Texas ; for 
most of the $10,000,000 was really in payment for public 
property of the Texan Republic, that had passed into the 
hands of the United States at the time of annexation. 

190. Neglect and Discontent. — When Governor Cal- 
houn took the oath of office in March, 1851, the condi- 
tion of public affairs was very unsatisfactory. Though the 
Territory had a population of 60,000, the treasury was 
empty, salaries were unpaid, and Indian raids were un- 
checked. The anti-slavery agitation had caused Congress 
to leave New Mexico too long under military control — 
more than three years after the signing of the treaty of 
peace. Any government that is irregular and uncertain 
is for that reason unpopular ; and military rule is the most 
universally hated of all. Much discontent remained, and 
many misunderstandings had to be straightened out before 
the new government could feel secure. 

For this discontent the newly established civil govern- 
ment was only a partial remedy ; for Territorial govern- 
ment is never popular self-government. It is essentially 
" carpetbagger " in nature ; that is, it is government by 
outsiders. Not one of the newly appointed officials was a 
native New Mexican. They were all " from the States," 



i6o 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



and some of them did not arrive until beyond midsummer. 
Such conditions were not likely to increase the popularity 
of the new government. 

191. Military Interference. — To make matters worse, 
Colonel E. V. Sumner, the new commander of the Military 
Department, took genuine delight in handicapping Gov- 
ernor Calhoun in his dealing with the Indians. Not only 



! V: Q 




Fort Defiance in the Fifties 

would he give the governor no effective cooperation against 
them, but he tried to keep Calhoun from organizing New 
Mexican volunteers to pursue the marauders. Slowly 
and grudgingly did the military authorities give up the 
control they had enjoyed for more than five years. 

192. New Military Posts. — On Colonel Sumner's arrival 
in the summer of 185 1 he broke up the post at Santa Fe, 
" that sink of vice and extravagance," and made his head- 
quarters at Fort Union, a new post which he established on 



BEGINNINGS OF THE TERRITORY 161 

the Mora River. His next move was to Albuquerque, 
and within a year he was back at Santa Fe to stay. During 
that fall (1851) he established Fort Fillmore in the Mesilla 
Valley and Fort Conrad (later Fort Craig) just south of 
Valverde to protect the lower Rio Grande Valley. At the 
Santa Rita copper mines he built Fort Webster to control 
the southwestern Apaches ; and out in the Navajo country 
he built Fort Defiance. 

But with all these posts and with troops stationed at 
other points, the Indians were still uncontrolled. They 
could move more swiftly than the troops. The fighting 
was particularly bitter in 1858, and in i860 the Navajos 
grew so bold as to attack Fort Defiance itself. 

193. Commercial Development. — The common im- 
pression that the overland trade from the Missouri frontier 
came to an end with the American Occupation is entirely 
false. In the romance of the westward march of General 
Kearny's army and the gold-seeking Forty-niners on their 
way to the Eldorado of the Pacific, it must not be forgot- 
ten that the Santa Fe trade was hardly beyond its in- 
fancy. The biggest year prior to 1846 had only reached 
the $450,000 mark. 

But with the American Occupation, arbitrary restrictions 
ceased, military protection for the caravans became a 
regular feature, and there was more freighting to do than 
ever before. After 1846 the freight charge alone (about 
$11.75 P er hundred) on government supplies from Fort 
Leavenworth to Santa Fe ran into the millions of dollars 
each year, — several times the value of all the goods brought 
in any year prior to the Occupation, — and the mercantile 
caravan increased accordingly. Besides the New Mexican 
trade to be supplied, there were now increasing numbers 



1 62 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

of Americans wishing to buy the American goods to which 
they were accustomed. 

194. The Forty-Niners. — Over this same old Santa Fe 
Trail from the Missouri River came thousands of gold 
seekers on their way to California in the summer of 1849. 
They went down the river by Albuquerque and followed 
Cooke's wagon road (sec. 169) toward the Pacific. Still 
other caravans came through Texas, crossed the Rio Grande 
near Mesilla, and went westward over the same route. 

195. The Mexican Boundary Dispute. — Much of this 
caravan route, however, was through disputed territory. 
Inaccuracies in the map referred to in the treaty of Guada- 
lupe Hidalgo left room for a difference of opinion as to the 
proper boundary between southern New Mexico and 
northern Mexico from the Rio Grande to the Gila. Ameri- 
can and Mexican commissioners to survey and mark the 
boundary met at El Paso and agreed on a starting point on 
the west bank of the Rio Grande opposite the town of 
Dona Ana, in latitude 32 22' north. From there* the line 
was to run a hundred and eighty miles west and then north 
to the Gila. But in November (1850), after about ninety 
miles of this line had been surveyed, Lieutenant William 
H. Emory came as the new surveyor for the American 
commission and refused to proceed with the survey unless 
the Mexicans would agree to a line half a degree (about 
thirty-four and a half miles) farther south. They of 
course refused, and the joint survey ended, leaving a bound- 
ary dispute to be settled later. 

196. The Founding of Mesilla. — Meanwhile the new 
town of Mesilla (ma-se'ya) had been settled in the dis- 
puted territory. Dofia Ana was acquiring a considerable 
American population, largely from Texas. Many of the 



BEGINNINGS OF THE TERRITORY 163 

native Mexican residents, dissatisfied with the situation, 
decided to seek homes under Mexican jurisdiction. In 
March, 1850, therefore, they moved across to the west 
side of the river to the Mesilla Grant, a few miles south 
of Dona Ana. 1 Population grew rapidly, with a liberal 
sprinkling of Americans. The governor of New Mexico 
prepared to take possession of the region ; Chihuahua was 
ready to resist by force of arms. 

197. Railway Route to the Pacific. — Events taking 
place far away, however, were to have the determining 
influence on the boundary settlement. California had 
been acquired by the United States at the same time as 
New Mexico. Gold had been discovered there in the spring 
of 1848. Tens of thousands of Americans had flocked to 
that country in the mad rush of gold seekers that crossed 
our great western plains in the summer of 1849. Each 
succeeding year saw its new line of westward-moving 
caravans. In 1850 California became a State of the 
Union. There was another American civilization growing 
up on the western coast, and the desire for union was 
strong. The government at Washington was quick to 
see the importance of the coast region and to recognize the 
necessity for providing means of travel and transporta- 
tion across the continent — for the building of a great 
transcontinental railroad to the Pacific. That subject, 
in fact, had been agitated by a few far-seeing men for more 
than fifteen years, even before the United States had any 
possessions on the coast. In the beginning of the fifties 
Senator Gwin, of California, kept it constantly before the 
public mind. 

Such a road should, of course, be wholly through Ameri- 

1 The Rio Grande moved to its present channel west of Mesilla during the floods of 186^ 
and 1865. 



1 64 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

can territory. But you will remember that when Colonel 
Cooke started from Santa Fe to California with his wagon 
train, in 1846, he found it impossible to follow General 
Kearny directly west from the Rio Grande by way of the 
Santa Rita copper mines and the Gila Valley, and had to 
go farther southwest through the Deming country (sec. 169). 
The southern caravan route to California, in 1849 an d 
after, came from San Antonio, by way of El Paso and 
Mesilla, and followed the same route westward, — part 
of the way through the disputed territory, but most of 
the way through the undisputed Mexican State of Sonora. 
The surveys made by the War Department in the early 
fifties showed that the " most practical and economical 
route " to the Pacific was over this same trail through 
Mexican territory. The United States must have that 
region without delay. 

198. The Gadsden Purchase. — The President, there- 
fore, sent James Gadsden, of South Carolina, who had 
long been interested in the project for a Pacific railroad, 
to Mexico as a special commissioner with instructions 
to settle the boundary dispute by buying the region west 
of the Rio Grande and south of the Gila, including the 
proposed railway route and all of the disputed territory. 
On December 30, 1853, Mr. Gadsden and the Mexican 
government signed a treaty of purchase by which the 
United States paid Mexico $10,000,000 for all of the terri- 
tory lying north of a line beginning in the Rio Grande 
River north of El Paso in 31 ° 47' north latitude, running 
west one hundred miles, then south to 31 ° 20' north latitude, 
then west to the one hundred and eleventh meridian, then 
northwest to the Colorado River twenty miles below 
the mouth of the Gila — the present southern boundary 



BEGINNINGS OF THE TERRITORY 



165 



of the United States from the Rio Grande to the Colorado. 
The territory thus acquired (45,000 square miles besides 
the disputed region) was annexed to New Mexico and 
made a part of Dona Ana County. 

199. The Overland Mail to the Pacific. — Through this 
region was soon started one of the most characteristic 




Indians Attacking the Overland Stage 

From Marvels of the New West 



American enterprises on record. In the summer of 1857 
the San Antonio and San Diego Mail began to travel 
twice a month each way from the Texas town to southern 
California, with only the El Paso settlement, Mesilla, and 
Tucson — and savage Indians — to break the monotony 
of the intervening deserts. There was no road most of 
the way, and the mail was carried on horseback at first. 
The first stages began to run in December of that year. 



1 66 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

In that same year (1857) the government let another 
contract to John Butterfield for carrying the mail from St. 
Louis to San Fransico over this same southern route through 
the Gadsden Purchase. From St. Louis the route of this 
Butterfield Overland Stage swung away by Springfield to 
Van Buren, Arkansas, where the Memphis mail was taken 
on ; across Red River near Sherman and out through west 
Texas by Forts Chadbourne and Belknap to El Paso ; up the 
Rio Grande to Mesilla and west over Cooke's wagon road 
(sec. 169) by Tucson and the Gila River to Fort Yuma; 
across the burning Mojave Desert, down the San Joaquin 
(hwa-ken') Valley, and over to San Francisco — twenty- 
seven hundred and sixty miles through as wild and danger- 
ous a country as man ever trod. But this long swing to the 
south avoided the winter snows in the mountains to the 
north and made success possible from the very beginning. 

The first stages started from St. Louis and San Francisco 
September 15, 1858, on a schedule of twenty-five days 
each way, with a system of stations and relays similar to 
that in use on the Santa Fe Trail (sec. 188). The first 
contract called for service twice a week each way for 
$600,000 a year. Later it became daily. Though the 
company lost money, it failed to bring the stages through 
on schedule time but three times in its history. The 
southern route through New Mexico to the Pacific was 
definitely proved to be a practicable highway before the 
first ride of the Pony Express by the Great Salt Lake. 

200. Civil War Brings Ruin. — By i860 this was the 
line which public opinion had settled as the one to be 
constructed; and if the Civil War had not come on to 
interfere with it, the first American railroad to the Pacific 
would have been through the Gadsden Purchase, which 



BEGINNINGS OF THE TERRITORY 167 

had been made primarily to acquire that route. As the 
war approached in the spring of 1861 all hope for the 
building of a railroad over this southern route was destroyed, 
and the Butterfield Overland Stage line was abandoned, 
lest it should fall into the control of the Confederacy. 

The Wells-Butterneld interests were allowed to transfer 
their horses and Concord coaches to the west end of the new 
northern route from San Francisco east by way of the Great 
Salt Lake, but their losses were so heavy that they soon 
went out of the mail business. They turned their atten- 
tion to express and by the end of the war were monopoliz- 
ing the express business of the Rocky Mountains. In 
1866 Wells, Fargo and Company, recently chartered by 
the Territory of Colorado, was strong enough to get control 
of the overland mail business again — but it was not 
through New Mexico. 

GENERAL READINGS 

H. H. Bancroft, History of New Mexico and Arizona, 467-473, 491-520, 
629-679. 

W. W. H. Davis, El Gringo, 160-432. 

L. B. Prince, A Concise History of New Mexico, 191-195. 

B. M. Read, Illustrated History of New Mexico, 463-496. 

R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, II, 280- 
326. 

J. H. Vaughan, History of Education in New Mexico, Chapters V, VI. 

SPECIAL TOPICS 

1. The' Territorial Government. F. N. Thorpe (ed.), American 
Charters, Constitutions, and Organic Laws, 14Q2-IQ08, V, 2615-2622, con- 
tains the Organic Act; G. P. Garrison, Westward Extension, 1841-1850 
("American Nation" Series, XVII), 315-332. 

2. Indian Affairs in 1852. A. H. Abel (ed.), "The Journal of John 
Greiner" (Daily Journal of Greiner as Indian Agent at Santa Fe, Apr. 1- 
Sept. 30, 1852), in Old Santa Fe, III (July, 1916), 189-243. 

3. The Texas Claim to Eastern New Mexico. W. C. Binkley, "The 



1 68 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

Question of Texas Jurisdiction in New Mexico under the United States, 
1848-1850," in Southwestern Historical Quarterly, XXIV (July, 1920), 1-38. 
4. The Gadsden Purchase and the Route to the Pacific. F. L. 
Paxson, The Last American Frontier, 1 74-191. 

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Outline the form of government created by the Organic Act of 185 1. 
When was the Territorial government organized. Was Calhoun a good 
choice for governor ? Why ? 

2. In what way was the new government an improvement over that 
from 1846 to 1851? 

3. What important laws were passed by the first legislature? 

4. How was the Texas boundary dispute settled? Was the settlement 
fair? Why? 

5. Why were the people not entirely satisfied with the Territorial govern- 
ment? Was their dissatisfaction unreasonable? Why? 

6. Why did Colonel Sumner not cooperate with Governor Calhoun 
against the Indians? What new military posts did Sumner establish? 

7. What is the reason for the general impression that the Santa Fe trade 
ceased to be important after 1846? Is it correct? Why? 

8. Who were the Forty-niners? What routes did they follow to Cali- 
fornia? 

9. Draw a map illustrating the Mexican boundary dispute. Why was 
the territory so important to the United States. 

10. Why did the Gadsden Purchase include more than the disputed 
region? 

11. Give an account of the beginning of the overland stage to the Pacific. 

12. Why did the first Pacific railroad not follow this same route ? What 
effect would such a road have had on New Mexico's progress? 



CHAPTER XII 

THE CIVIL WAR AND THE SETTLEMENT OF THE INDIAN 

PROBLEM 

I. NEW MEXICO IN THE CIVIL WAR 

201. New Mexico for the Union. — Although the New 
Mexicans were accustomed to both native peonage and 
captive Indian slavery (sec. 149), there were only twenty- 
two Negro slaves in the Territory in 1861. The question 
of Negro slavery, therefore, was not important. Nor 
was the great political controversy between North and 
South over the nature of the Union of very vital interest 
in this remote region. 

Moreover, New Mexico was a conquered province ; and 
the fifteen years since the American Occupation had not 
been sufficient to clear away all ill feeling and develop a 
strong sentimental attachment to the Union. Most of the 
early pioneers and traders over the Santa Fe Trail had been 
Southerners. Most of the American officers in the Ter- 
ritory had been Southerners. From long association, there- 
fore, the New Mexicans had been attached to the South. 
But when the first Southern advance came from Texas, 
popular feeling set strongly toward the Union. The long- 
standing controversy with Texas (sees. 137, 13 9- 141, 189) 
had bred much bad feeling. Texans were intensely un- 
popular with the average New Mexican. 

Governor Connelly took full advantage of this sentiment 
when he issued his proclamation of September 0, 1861, 

160 



7 o 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



calling for volunteers to resist invasion " by an armed 
force from the State of Texas" The name of the Con- 
federacy was not mentioned. 

202. A Confederate Dream of Empire. — The territory 
of the Confederacy extended westward to El Paso. A 
large proportion of the people of southern New Mexico 
and southern California were from the South. Naturally 
they would sympathize with their section in the coming 




CIVIL WAR OPERATIONS 

IN NEW MEXICO 

1661-1862 



7;.\ / 






contest; and if given some encouragement, they might 
even be able to control both these new regions. The 
Confederate government was anxious to extend its terri- 
tory to the Pacific. As a transcontinental nation its 
prestige would be doubled ; its credit would be increased ; 
and it might reasonably expect early recognition by the 
great nations and a speedy ending of the war. It was a 
glorious dream of empire destined never to come true ; but 
it brought the Civil War to New Mexico. 

Four officers in the Military Department of New Mexico 
resigned their commissions, went South to give their swords 



THE CIVIL WAR 



171 



to their native States, and served with distinction in the 
Confederate armies. A few privates are said to have 
followed the same course. Otherwise the entire military 
establishment in New Mexico espoused the Union cause. 

203. Confederates Take Possession of the Mesilla 
Valley. — In July, 1861, Lieuten- .^-r*^ 

ant Colonel John R. Baylor of 
the Confederate army came up 
by Fort Bliss with six hundred 
Texans, occupied the town of 
Mesilla without serious opposi- 
tion, and prepared to attack 
Fort Fillmore, then under com- 
mand of Major Isaac Lynde, of 
Vermont. Lynde, unwilling to 
stand an attack in the old 
adobe fort with no supply of 
water within a mile, decided to 
evacuate it and join other Union 
forces at Fort Stanton. Baylor 
pursued him and captured his 
entire force before they crossed the Organ Pass. 

204. The Confederate " Territory of Arizona." — Colo- 
nel Baylor returned to Mesilla and took up the political 
situation. Southern New Mexico, including the Arizona 
settlements south of the Gila, had long been discontented 
because they were cut off from the capital by the Jornada 
del Muerto and neglected by New Mexican officials. Con- 
ventions had been held at Mesilla (1859) and Tucson 
(i860) to lay plans for separating this region from New 
Mexico and organizing it as the Territory of Arizona. 

The lesson of this history was not lost on Colonel Baylor. 




Colonel John R. Baylor 



172 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



He issued a proclamation August 1, organizing all of New 
Mexico south of the thirty-fourth parallel as the " Terri- 
tory of Arizona " under the Confederate States of America, 
with Mesilla as the capital, himself as temporary governor, 
and other officials appointed by him until otherwise pro- 
vided by the Confederate Congress. More than three 
hundred volunteers from the Mesilla Valley joined his 
forces. 

205. Federal Preparations. — On the Federal side active 

preparations were being 




made for the defense of 
the Territory. Colonel E. 
R. S. Canby, commander 
of the Military Depart- 
ment of New Mexico, 
urged the War Depart- 
ment to send out some 
regular troops. The Ter- 
ritorial legislature 
promptly authorized Gov- 
ernor Connelly to call out 
the militia. Colonel Can- 
by enrolled and organiz- 
the militia and volunteers for the coming conflict. But 
the Federal government was so absorbed in the oper- 
ations before Washington and the contest for the 
control of Missouri and the border States east of the 
Mississippi that the " regular troops " were not forth- 
coming. Canby then appealed to Governor Gilpin, of 
Colorado, for help. 

The Conquest of Arizona. — In December, 1861, 



Colonel E. R. S. Canby 



General H. H. Sibley, with a force of 2,300 men from San 



THE CIVIL WAR 



173 



Antonio, Texas, relieved Colonel Baylor of command at 
Mesilla. His plan was (1) to take possession of the Arizona 
settlements south of the Gila and (2) to march northward 
for the capture of Fort Craig, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, 
and Fort Union. 

In February, 1862, Captain Hunter and a hundred men 
set out for Arizona. The task was easy. The Union 
commanders at Forts Buchanan and Breckenridge had 
abandoned the country in order to unite with other Union 




Fort Union in the Fifties 



forces at Fort Craig on the Rio Grande. A convention at 
Tucson had already declared Arizona a part of the Con- 
federacy, and a Delegate to the Confederate Congress had 
been elected. Taking possession of Tucson, unopposed, 
Captain Hunter set out for Fort Yuma. The approach of 
the " California Column " spoiled this enterprise, and 
Hunter hastened back to the Rio Grande. 

207. The Confederate Advance on Santa Fe. — In the 
meantime (February, 1862) General Sibley with an army of 



174 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

2,600 men marched northward for the major operation in 
New Mexico. At Valverde, seven miles north of Fort 
Craig, he met General Canby with about 3,800 men from 
the Fort. In a desperate all-day battle the Confederates 
were victorious. " No part of the Federal army stopped 
until safely within the walls of Fort Craig." 

Sibley left his wounded at Socorro, captured Albuquerque 
without resistance, and marched on Santa Fe. Panic set 
in at the capital. The Territorial officials fled, and the 
garrison from Fort Marcy started across the mountains 
with a caravan of a hundred and twenty wagons loaded 
with military supplies headed toward Fort Union. The 
Confederates entered the city unopposed and prepared 
for the final drive — the capture of Fort Union on the 
Mora River. 

208. The Battle of Apache Canyon, or Glorieta. — 
Union fortunes in the Territory were now at their lowest 
ebb. Fort Fillmore, Fort Craig, Albuquerque, and Santa 
Fe, one after another, had fallen before the victorious 
Southerners. What would be the fate of Fort Union? Its 
commander mined all parts of it so that if he were forced 
to surrender, he might blow it up before leaving. 

At this critical time the arrival of the Colorado Volunteers 
asked for by Colonel Canby the preceding fall (sec. 205) 
turned the balance in favor of the Union. On the way 
toward Santa Fe they met the Confederates in Apache 
Canyon, near Glorieta, fifteen miles southeast of the capital. 
After two days of sharp fighting (March 27, 28) the out- 
numbered Union forces were driven back to Pigeon's 
Ranch and finally to Kozlosky's Ranch, and the Confed- 
erates remained in control of the canyon. But the de- 
cisive movement had been made unobserved, by Major 



THE CIVIL WAR 



175 



Chivington, of the Colorado Volunteers, with a detach- 
ment of four hundred men guided over a difficult moun- 
tain trail by Colonel Manuel Chaves, of the New Mexico 
Volunteers. They fell upon the Confederate supply train 
in the rear, drove off* the guard, " spiked the cannon, 
bayonet ted eleven hundred mules, burned sixty-four 
wagons, and destroyed all the Confederate supplies." 
The Confederates fell back on Santa Fe, and the Federals 
returned to Fort Union. 
209. The Confederate 
Retreat.— With the failure 
of the advance on Fort 
Union, Confederate plans 
were ruined. Sibley soon 
evacuated Santa Fe and 
began his retreat down 
the Rio Grande. Major 
Paul, from Fort Union, 
immediately occupied the 
capital and followed in hot 
pursuit. Colonel Canby 
left Fort Craig in com- 
mand of Colonel Kit 
Carson and hastened 
northward. At Albuquerque he met Sibley's men and 
exchanged shots with them for most of one day, but in 
attempting to unite with Major Paul, allowed Sibley to 
escape down the river. On April 15 the united forces 
of Canby and Paul overtook the Confederates at Pe- 
ralta and engaged them for another day. That night 
the Southerners crossed to the west side of the river. 
For two days the two armies moved slowly down op- 




Civil War Cannon Buried at Albu- 
querque by the Confederates 



176 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

posite sides of the river in sight of each other. But 
on the morning of the eighteenth the Confederates 
were gone. They had packed seven days' rations on 
mules, abandoned their wagons, burned such supplies as 
could not be carried, and gone by trail across the moun- 
tains to the west of Fort Craig. The Union forces crossed 
the river near Socorro, marched to Fort Craig, and gave 
up the pursuit. Early in May Sibley appeared in the 
Mesilla Valley and soon moved on to Fort Bliss. His New 
Mexico campaign had cost him nearly half his original 
force and had profited him nothing. All danger from the 
Confederacy was passed. 

When the " California Column " came in from the west 
in July and August, 1862, the Civil War in New Mexico was 
over, and the last of the Confederates were gone. Its 
commander, General Carleton, became commander of the 
Department of New Mexico ; Colonel Canby went east ; 
and the Coloradoans returned home. The Calif ornians 
did garrison duty and participated in numerous Indian 
campaigns. 

210. Peonage Abolished. — The one abuse in New 
Mexican life that should have been most certainly swept 
away by the Civil War was the system of peonage, or 
bondage for debt (sec. 149). But the Emancipation 
Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment applied 
only to Negroes. The peon received no relief until Con- 
gress abolished the whole system in 1867. 

Whipping as a punishment for stealing stock still con- 
tinued. " Not less than thirty lashes, well laid on his 
bare back, nor more than sixty, at the discretion of the 
court " was the punishment prescribed. The custom was 
defended on the ground that the opportunities for stealing 



THE CIVIL WAR 



177 



were so great and jails so few as to demand some severe 
and speedy method of dealing with criminals. 

211. Organization of the Territory of Arizona. — The 

Civil War period saw New Mexico's territory reduced by 
half. The Territory of Colorado, organized in 1861, took 
in the northeastern section lying north of the thirty- 
seventh parallel. Then in 1863 the western half was 
organized into the Territory of Arizona. The few settle- 




American Indian Fighters on the Desert Quenching Their 
Thirst With Blood from Their Own Veins 

ments out there in the Gadsden Purchase south of the 
Gila had already in 18 59-1 860 and again at the opening of 
the Civil War tried to join the Mesilla Valley and organize 
the Territory of Arizona. The military posts had been 
abandoned; the Indians had again become masters of the 
country ; and the settlers had fled for their lives. Tucson, 
Yuma, a few ranches, and an occasional miner were all 
there was of civilization left. To this situation the govern- 
ment at Washington could not be indifferent ; for the region 
south of the Gila was an important link in the shortest 



i 7 8 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



overland route from the Missouri River to the Pacific 
coast and was the only route from the Southwest to the 
coast. In 1863, therefore, Congress cut off all of New 
Mexico west of the one hundred and ninth meridian and 
organized it into the Territory of Arizona. A new gov- 
ernment in that region would hold the Indians in check. 

II SETTLING THE INDIAN PROBLEM 

212. The Indian 
Menace. — When 
the Civil War 
closed, the Indian 
problem in New 
Mexico was press- 
ing for solution. 
Most of the mili- 
tary posts had been 
abandoned in 1861 
in order to con- 
centrate their 
forces at such 
strategic points as 
Fort Craig, Santa 
Fe, and Fort 
Union, leaving 
p r a c t i c ally the 
whole Territory as 
completely exposed to Indian attack as it had been at any 
time during the preceding century. The Indians, quick to 
see their opportunity, plundered the settlements, murdered 
the inhabitants, and drove off stock as in the good old days 
before the coming of the Americans. But the savage storm 




Geronimo 



THE CIVIL WAR 



179 



lasted only long enough to drive home the lesson that New 
Mexico must be freed from this perpetual menace. 

213. Rounding up the Red Men. — The time was for- 
tunate. The departure of the Confederates left General 
Carlton with several 
thousand troops ready 
for action and in no 
mood to be lenient 
with the ancient ene- 
my. Now for the first 
time an Indian policy 
was developed. The 
wild tribes from all 
parts of the Territory 
were to be removed 
fro m their ancient 
haunts and rounded 
up under guard at the 
Bosque Redondo (bos' 
ka ra-thon'do), on the 
Pecos River near 
Fort Sumner. There, 
disarmed a n d con- 
vinced of their power- 
lessness, they might 
be taught how to 

farm and become partially self-supporting — the first lesson 
in civilized life. 

Colonel Kit Carson, the great pathfinder and scout, 
who had commanded the first regiment of New Mexico 
volunteers at. the battle of Valverde, was sent against the 
Mescalero (mes-ka-la'ro) Apaches to fight it out to a finish 




Kit Carson Monument. Santa Fe 



180 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

and bring them in. Early in 1863 he had four hundred 
Mescaleros at the Bosque Redondo, and by the end of 
the year he had brought in two hundred Navajos also. 
Before the close of the following year (1864) he had 
marched straight into the Navajo stronghold in Chelly 
(cha-ye') Canyon, defeated the Navajos, and had seven 
thousand of them over on the Pecos River charing at the 
confinement of their new quarters. 

Something worth while had been accomplished : the 
Navajos had been beaten and knew it. Of all the wild 
tribes, they had been the most unsatisfactory to deal with. 
Numbering hardly more than ten thousand, split up into 
small bands leading a scattered nomadic life in order to 
find pasture for their herds, they were less subject to the 
influence of their chiefs than any of the other Indians. 
Treaty making had become an art with them, to be prac- 
ticed when it would save them from punishment; and 
treaty breaking, a regular procedure when it was safe. 
For more years than any living New Mexican could count 
they had been needing a sound whipping. Now they had 
it. New Mexico could breathe easier. 

214. Difficulties at the Bosque Redondo. — But the 
Bosque Redondo colonizing scheme did not work. The 
Indians were hostile amorfg themselves, hated the whites 
and were hated by them, constantly chafed under captivity 
in a new and strange region. They were lazy, indolent, 
and sullen. Disease spread among them ; and starva- 
tion was ahead unless the government fed them. 

The Mescaleros fled in 1866 and went on the warpath. 
Then came a change of policy. A peace commission from 
Washington came out in 1868 and signed a treaty allowing 
the Navajos to return to a reservation in their own country, 



THE CILIL WAR 



181 



northwestern New Mexico and northeastern Arizona. 
Fort Sumner was abandoned. The Navajos had not been 



%m- 




On the Trail of Geronimo 

From Personal Recollections of General Miles 



182 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



civilized, but the fear of the white man's power had been 
put in his heart. His militant spirit was broken, and he 
has given no more serious trouble. 

215. The Apaches on the Warpath. — The Mescalero 
Apaches who ran away from the Bosque in 1866 were 
placed on a reservation near Fort Stanton in 18 73-1 8 74. 
The Apaches were still as warlike and fond of plunder as 
they had been for centuries, and after 1870 were armed 

with late model repeating rifles 
and well supplied with ammuni- 
tion secured through unscrupu- 
lous white traders. 

After the removal of the Nav- 
ajos to their reservation in the 
northwest and the Mescaleros 
and other Apaches to theirs at 
Fort Stanton there was a tempo- 
rary lull in Indian troubles. In 
the seventies there was compar- 
ative peace. Events proved, 
General George H. Crook however> that it was only the 

calm before the gathering storm. In 1879 the storm broke. 
Chief Victorio and his band of Apache braves left the Mes- 
calero Reservation and went on the warpath. For the next 
four years they spread terror throughout southern New 
Mexico and Arizona, until Victorio was killed in 1883. 

216. Geronimo's Raids. — Two years later Geronimo 
(ha-ro'ne-mo), one of the greatest chiefs of the Apache 
nation, fled from the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona 
and took up the bloody work of Victorio, terrorizing an 
even wider region extending into northern Mexico. Operat- 
ing at the head of a band of mountain outlaws in a country 




THE CIVIL WAR 183 

where the Apaches knew every trail, water hole, and 
mountain pass, he succeeded in beating off, and keeping out 
of the way of, American and Mexican forces many times 
larger than his own. 

In the spring of 1886 General George H. Crook, worn- 
out with hard campaigning against Victorio and Geronimo 
and humiliated by the escape of Geronimo after capture, 
asked to be relieved from command. Then the Apache 
troubles entered their final stage. President Cleveland 
gave the command to General Nelson A. Miles with orders 
to capture Geronimo and round up every Apache in the 
Southwest on reservations. By the end of the summer 
the braves were captured, and Geronimo, the last great 
Apache chief and warrior, gave up the fight. The blood- 
thirsty Apaches, who had fought the Spaniards for three 
hundred years and had not been subdued, tried the mettle 
of our army as no others ever did. 

The government's policy of placing the wild tribes on 
reservations and keeping them there is civilizing them very 
slowly, but experience shows that it is the only wise course. 

217. The Pueblos since 1847. — The Pueblos have not 
been troublesome during the American period. They 
struck one murderous blow at the power of the newcomers 
in the Taos Rebellion of 1847 (sees. 171-175). The out- 
come was clear and unmistakable. The Pueblos saw the 
point. Since then they have given no trouble. 

They were citizens of the Mexican Republic and became 
citizens of the United States under the terms of the treaty 
of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. Both their citizenship and 
their tribal lands were confirmed by a decision of the Terri- 
torial Supreme Court in 1869, which has been followed in 
many succeeding decisions. 



1 84 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

III. INTERNAL DISORDER 

218. The Spirit of Lawlessness. — In the seventies the 
railroads began to approach from three directions: the 
Santa Fe from the Missouri River to the northeast, the 
Texas and Pacific line from the southeast, and the South- 
ern Pacific from the Pacific coast through Arizona. New 
Mexico became one of the last resorts for the desperate 
characters of the southwestern frontier. After the Santa 
Fe Railroad reached Trinidad, Colorado, in 1876, Colfax 
County became a favorite retreat for the criminal elements 
drifting in from that region. Dofia Ana County in the 
southwest received her full share of the same type of 
population. 

But Colfax and Dona Ana had no monopoly of the " bad 
men." Lincoln County, which in those days included all 
southeastern New Mexico, could easily carry off the honors 
in this respect. There was no railroad to bring desperadoes 
into this region, but it had all the characteristics of a border 
province where two civilizations meet and clash. The 
old settlements were in the central mountain region ; and 
of the county's whole population (about 2,000) nearly all 
were native-born New Mexicans. But a new element was 
beginning to drift into the lowlands of the Pecos Valley 
from the south and east. It was composed of restless 
cattlemen from western Texas, accompanied by the usual 
quota of " hard characters." 

219. The " Lincoln County War." — Between these 
newcomers of the plains and the old time cattlemen in the 
region around Lincoln a bloody feud soon developed ; and, 
as Emerson Hough has said, " southeastern New Mexico, 
for twenty years after the Civil War, was without doubt, 
as dangerous a country as ever lay out of doors." 



THE CIVIL WAR 185 

In that environment and out of that feud grew the bloody 
disorders known as the " Lincoln County War " (1876- 
1878). Both factions had large beef contracts with the 
Mescalero Indian Agency ; both were furnishing beef to the 
United States military forces at Fort Stanton ; each 
accused the other of stealing cattle ; and there is little 
reason to believe that either was innocent. Stealing cattle 



^MIINMR 




The Old Chisum Ranch Near Roswell 

in that broad, unsettled region with a near-by market 
was easier, quicker, and more profitable than going to the 
trouble of raising them. Yet killing was. the punishment 
for cattle stealing ; and with a crude desperado like Billy 
the Kid (William H. Bonney) to promote this outbreak 
of crime, the whole region was kept in terror for more than 
two years. Territorial officials took no effective measures 
to stop it ; and some were even suspected of being interested 
parties. Finally in 1878 General Lew Wallace, the famous 



1 86 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

author who wrote part of Ben Hur in the Palace of the 
Governors at Santa Fe, was appointed governor for the 
specific purpose of putting an end to the disturbances in 
Lincoln County and restoring order in the Territory. 

The most effective single blow, however, was struck 
by Pat F. Garrett, sheriff of Lincoln County, when he 
shot and killed Billy the Kid at Fort Sumner in July, 1878. 
The death of that twenty-one-year-old desperado, whose 
murders already numbered nine, and who was so proud of 
them that he claimed twenty-one, was the beginning of the 
end of the carnival of crime in which he had played so 
bloody a part. 

GENERAL READINGS 

H. H. Bancroft, History of Arizona and New Mexico, 504-519, 558-577, 
662-749. 

L. B. Prince, A Concise History of New Mexico, 195-203, 220-226. 

R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, II , 337-420. 

"The Confederate Invasion of New Mexico, 1861-1862" (Anonymous), 
in Old Santa Fe, III (Jan. 191 6), 5-43. 

C. F. Lumvis, The Land of Poco Tiempo, 155-214. (A graphic account of 
Apache warfare.) 

SPECIAL TOPICS 

1. In sections of the State where there were battles or other important 
Civil War operations the class should work up together that local history. 

2. Similar local studies may be made in regions near Indian reservations 
or the old homes of Indian tribes. 

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Why was there no great enthusiasm in New Mexico over the out- 
break of the Civil War? Why did Governor Connelly speak of the Con- 
federates as Texans ? 

2. How did the plans of the Confederacy affect New Mexico? 

3. Draw a map of the Confederate "Territory of Arizona," locating Me- 
silla, Fort Fillmore, and Tuscon. 

4. What preparations were the Union forces making for defense? Why 
did they abandon the forts in the Gila country? 



THE CIVIL WAR 187 

5. Locate Fort Craig, Valverde, Apache Canyon, and Fort Union. Why 
did the Confederate advance on Fort Union fail? 

6. What was accomplished by (a) the Colorado Volunteers? (b) the 
California Column? 

7. When was peonage abolished? What defense was offered for punish- 
ment by whipping ? Was the custom justified ? 

8. Why was the Territory of Arizona organized? Draw a map showing 
how it reduced the size of New Mexico. 

9. What change did the Civil War make in the Indian problem? Why 
was this a good time for settling it? 

10. What was the new Indian policy? How did it work? What were 
the chief troubles at the Bosque Redondo? 

11. Who were Victorio and Geronimo? Why were the Apaches hard to 



conquer 



12. Why was disorder and crime prevalent in the late seventies? 

13. What was the "Lincoln County War"? Who was Billy the Kid? 
Pat F. Garrett? 



CHAPTER XIII 
RAILROADS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

220. The Belated Southwest. — The coming of the Civil 
War in 1861 ruined the bright hope of having the first 
railroad to the Pacific come through New Mexico and the 
Southwest — one of the greatest calamities in the State's 
history. Such a road would have brought population, 
capital, and rapid development. But when the first trans- 
continental road went by the Great Salt Lake (1869), it 
drew off the more progressive elements of population in that 
direction and left the Southwest as one of the last great 
regions without railroad communication with the outside 
world. Into it came enough " bad men " to stage such 
bloody disorders as the Lincoln County War (sec. 219) 
and to give the Territory a long start in corrupt politics 
and a bad name as a backward region. As a result its 
development has been retarded by a generation, and 
ignorant Easterners still ask if people in New Mexico are 
much like the people in the United States. 

221. Travel and Communication. — The increasing num- 
ber of substantial wagons and carriages after the American 
Occupation greatly improved the means of travel, though 
there was but little improvement in roads. Numerous 
requests of the legislature to the Federal government for 
appropriations to improve the road from the Missouri 
River to Santa Fe and on through to California, and the 
southern mail route from Santa Fe to El Paso, brought no 

188 



RAILROADS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 189 

response. The road over the mountains from Santa Fe 
to Taos, completed in 1873 with the aid of an appropriation 
of $25,000 from Congress, was the first important piece of 
road building. 

Over the Trail to the east it took a month for letters to 
reach the Atlantic seaboard. In the fifties another stage 
line went south from Santa Fe to connect at Mesilla with 
the San Antonio and San Diego Mail and the Butterfield 
Overland Stage from St. Louis to San Francisco (sec. 199). 

222. The Coming of the Telegraph. — The completion 
of the military telegraph line from Fort Leavenworth to 
Santa Fe, July 8, 1869, was an epoch-making event. By 
1875 it was extended south to Mesilla, then west to Tucson 
a year later ; and when it reached San Diego in 1877, New 
Mexico had telegraphic communication with both sides 
of the continent. 

223. Last Years of the Overland Freighting Business. 
— American troops had come in considerable numbers. 
With them came political and military officials, contractors, 
health seekers, adventurers, and a few home seekers. For 
all of them every kind of manufactured article had to be 
brought from the States. Arms, ammunition, and military 
supplies came from Fort Leavenworth. Dry goods, 
groceries, hardware, drugs, and luxuries in greater variety 
than in the old days of the Trail, to satisfy the demand of 
the New Mexicans and the small but growing element of 
Americans, whose wants were harder to satisfy — all 
came across the plains in wagons drawn by mules and oxen. 
From the Civil War until the coming of the Santa Fe 
Railroad was the greatest epoch of the overland freighting 
business. Three thousand traders' wagons came across the 
plains in 1865, and a year later the number had risen to 



190 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



about five thousand, besides those carrying government 
freight. The value of the cargo each year was counted by 
the millions. 

Still the trade did not grow in size so rapidly as we might 
expect; for after the Mexican War the southern caravan 
no longer went to Chihuahua to supply the trade of northern 
Mexico (sec. 127), and the overland trade to California 
was gradually drawn to the more northern route as the 




■ : : • ' 



•' *C : *:~£ : ZB-l 



*f^f^^v : ^^ 




Cattle Seeking Water 

two ends of the Union Pacific Railroad approached each 
other from the Mississippi Valley, and the Pacific coast. 



I. THE COMING OF THE RAILROADS 

224. The Santa Fe. — After the Civil War the eastern 
end of the stage line moved slowly westward for more than 
ten years as the Santa Fe Railroad crossed the prairies 
toward the Arkansas River and then crept slowly up that 



RAILROADS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 



\ 



IQI 



stream toward the mountains of eastern Colorado. By 
the end of November, 1878, construction reached the top 
of the Raton Pass. The first passenger train came into 
New Mexico, February 13, 1879. Passing Las Vegas in 
July, the road reached Santa Fe, February 9, 1880, and 
Albuquerque, April 22. 



-& 




Crossing Raton Mountains by the Switch-back Before 
Digging the Tunnel 



225. Transcontinental Lines. — When the line down the 
Rio Grande turned west to Deming and met the Southern 
Pacific, which was building in from the Pacific coast, March 
10, 1 88 1, all-rail communication was established across the 



192 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



continent at the south end of the Rocky Mountains, running 
the whole length of New Mexico from northeast to south- 
west. The line down the Rio Grande reached El Paso 
and the coast line went west from Albuquerque to the 
Arizona line that same year; while the Denver and Rio" 
Grande had already built into the Territory from the north 
the same year that the Santa Fe reached Santa Fe and 
Albuquerque (1880). 





Herd of Buffalo Stopping a Train 

226. The Railways Follow the Trails. — The closeness 
with which the railroad followed the Santa Fe Trail from 
the Missouri River to the capital of New Mexico is note- 
worthy. So well had the Indian pathfinders and the New 
Mexican and American plainsmen, mountaineers, and 
traders done the work of trail making that when the trained 
engineer came along he had only to smooth out curves, do 
away with detours, and cut away the side of a mountain 



RAILROADS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 193 

here and there in order to bring the great railway over the 
old Trail. In the whole distance across the rolling prairies 
of Kansas to the Arkansas, up that stream to Bent's Fort 
(near La Junta), then over the Raton Pass, and on through 
Apache Canyon to Santa Fe the railroad is seldom out of 
sight of the Trail. The Southern Pacific coming east 
followed first the Gila Trail, then Cooke's wagon road, and 
dropped south to find its way through the mountains at 
the El Paso water gap — the line of the Butterfield Over- 
land Stage and the San Antonio and San Diego Mail 
(sec. 199). 

227. The Beginning of a New Era. — No other event 
has so completely transformed the whole face of New 
Mexican life as did the coming of the railroads. The 
Territory was now in touch with the great outside world. 
A great army of pushing, energetic Americans from all 
parts of the United States, and particularly from the 
frontier regions of the West, followed the railroad, estab- 
lished large ranches, started new enterprises, opened new 
mines, and built new towns. Thousands of home seekers, 
health seekers, and business men, scores of lawyers, and 
hordes of speculators followed. The value of land increased, 
new counties were created, and new courthouses built. 
Progress and change were in the air. 

228. New Problems. — The railroads had ushered in a 
new era of progress and development, but they had brought 
with them new problems to disturb the Territory for years 
to come. From California, Colorado, Texas, and the States 
to the east, hordes of gamblers, saloon keepers, thieves, 
highwaymen, and desperate characters of all kinds flocked 
in. The towns at the end of the railroad line as it moved 
mi from Raton to Las Vegas, Lamy, Albuquerque, and 



\ 

\ 



194 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

southward were, one after another, the chief centers of 
operations of this criminal element ; and when the road was 
completed, these characters continued to infest the towns 
and some of the remote country districts. Every session 
of court was now burdened with criminal trials ; jails were 
crowded; and it was no accident that the penitentiary was 
established in 1882. It came to serve a real need. 

This reign of crime gradually passed as the Territorial 
government became accustomed to dealing with it. But 
the railroads brought still other problems of a more per- 
manent nature. Facilities for transportation had suddenly 
jumped from the prairie trail to the modern railroad with- 
out the Territory having any system of highways. It 
looked like extreme good fortune; but none of these rail- 
ways was built for the sake of New Mexico. They were 
part of a great policy of connecting the Mississippi Valley 
with the* Pacific coast ; and New Mexico happened to be 
on the way. Their chief business was one of through freight 
and long hauls. The few hundred tons of eastern goods 
that they brought to New Mexico and the annual wool and 
cattle crop that they hauled east were insignificant parts of 
their business. Besides, there was no competition by water 
or other means of transportation, and the roads were not 
slow to see that they had a complete monopoly along 
practically every mile of their lines and could charge all 
that the traffic would bear, grant lower rates to favored 
shippers, and discriminate against some towns and favor 

others. 

II. THE LIVE-STOCK INDUSTRY 

229. The First Source of Wealth. — Stock raising was 
the great historic industry from which the Spanish colonists 
had regularly produced whatever of wealth they had en- 



RAILROADS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 



195 



joyed. In days when there were no railroads or other 
means of transportation, sheep and " longhorns " had the 
advantage of being able to transport themselves to market, 
first to Chihuahua and elsewhere in northern Mexico, 
and later over the cattle trails northeastward to Newton, 
Fort Dodge, and other points as the railroads came west. 




Rambouilletts on the Range 



230. Sheep Raising. — Sheep raising had been the prin- 
cipal branch of the live-stock business and was the chief 
source of New Mexican wealth in the first half of the 
nineteenth century. Sheep numbered 375,000 in 1850 as 
against only 33,000 cattle; and that proportion continued 
with but little change for the next thirty years, though 
the numbers multiplied many fold. All the rich men in 
the country at the time of the American Occupation, except 
a few merchants, were the " sheep kings " — men whose 



196 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



great herds of sheep enabled them to enjoy such luxuries 
as were obtainable and to send their sons to St. Louis or 
elsewhere for an education. 

With markets far away and transportation lacking, the 
production of wool and mutton was no get-rich-quick enter- 
prise to tempt the speculator looking for sudden wealth, 
but it was a safe business for the man who was content with 
slow but steady gains. The range was free, and herding 
was not expensive. 

231. The Cattle Boom.— Down 
to 1880 the absence of amarket 
had made any great boom in the 
live-stock industry impossible. 
Cattle raising, like the sheep 
business, had been carried on by 
private individuals, with the open 
government lands as free range. 
There was an occasional " cattle 
king," like John S. Chisum, who 
moved into the Pecos Valley from 
Texas in the beginning of the 
seventies and soon had herds 
numbering sixty to seventy -five 
thousand, some of which he marketed at Fort Dodge and 
other points on the westward-moving railroads. 

Such men pointed the way and fired the imagination of 
the newcomers just at the time when the railroad was. 
coming in to create new conditions and open an eastern 
market. An era of wild speculation in the cattle business 
followed. Capital from the eastern States and even from 
Europe was induced to enter the field. New cattle com- 
panies were organized to buy up the land along the streams 




John S. Chisum 
"Cattle King" 



/ \ 



RAILROADS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 197 

and stock it with herds to be increased from year to year. 
The eighties was the first age of " cattle kings." Soon 
the ranges were overstocked, and dry seasons brought 
heavy losses with resulting financial disaster to the com- 
panies. The last of the eighties was a period of depression 
in the whole live-stock industry, sheep as well as cattle. 

232. Recent Development. — A succession of good 
seasons in the early nineties, however, brought new pros- 
perity on the ranges and by 1894 the wool crop amounted 
to sixteen million pounds. The amount has not greatly 
increased since that time, but better care and the intro- 
duction of better breeds of sheep has greatly increased 
the amount of wool produced per head, and the rising price 
of wool has multiplied the annual value of the crop many 
fold. Though sheep raising is carried on all over the 
State, Valencia, Socorro, Union, and Chaves are the leading 
countries. 

In the cattle business similar changes have been taking 
place. The movement for the introduction of better 
stock and the grading up of herds has been general; and 
since about 1900 the " longhorn " is becoming a mere 
memory. His place has been taken by the Hereford and 
the Shorthorn. Both the quality and the quantity of 
beef per head has been increased and the price has risen, 
as in the case of sheep and wool. The cattle business, 
less general than sheep raising, has its two big centers in 
the Pecos Valley in the southeast and in Grant, Catron, and 
Socorro counties in the southwest. 

A great change is coming over the methods employed 
in the stock business. As increasing settlement has 
gradually restricted the ranges, the old cheap, but wasteful, 
open range is rapidly giving way to the wire fence around 



1 98 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

land owned or leased ; and the production of forage crops 
for carrying stock over dry seasons and severe winters is 
both saving the stockman from many heavy losses and 
increasing the numbers that can be grown on a given area 
of land. 

233. Dairying. — At the same time a new branch of the 
live-stock business is coming into prominence. Dairying 
as a commercial enterprise, except around the towns 
and cities, has only made its appearance since about 
1 9 10 ; but it is already established and is rapidly increasing 
in importance. The principal dairying regions are in the 
northeastern part of the State, particularly Union County, 
and in the Mesilla Valley, below the Elephant Butte 
Dam. 

in. MINING AND MANUFACTURING 

234. Mining in Spanish and Mexican Times. — Much 
has been written about ancient mining operations in New 
Mexico. But we have evidence of very little mining during 
Spanish and Mexican times. The Santa Rita copper mine 
and the mica mines near Santa Fe and Mora (sec. 106) were 
two important exceptions. One other ancient enterprise 
should be added. At Los Cerrillos, near Santa Fe, the 
Pueblo Indians were working the turquoise mines long 
before the Spaniards came to the country. With rude 
stone sledges, without the aid of iron, steel, or explosives, 
they broke away huge masses of rock in search of the 
fascinating ornament which, to their minds, possessed 
some vague supernatural power. These are the most 
important turquoise mines in the world and have been 
worked to some extent by the Spaniards ever since they 
came to the country. 



RAILROADS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 



199 



, " 



aw;- 






■■< ■ 



235. Mining in the Early American Period. — When the 
American army came to New Mexico in 1846, gold mining at 
the " New Placers " (discovered in 1826) south of Santa 
Fe was being carried on as extensively as the lack of ma- 
chinery and shortage of water would permit. During the 
winter season, when water was more plentiful, many hun- 
dreds of people would gather at the " diggings." There 
was no record, however, of anybody having become rich 

at it, though ^-_-~ — — _ _ „. __. ^,,„ 

many had sunk 
everything they 
had in the ven- 
ture. Through 
the fifties and 
sixties there was 
much prospect- 
ing, but very 
little actual 
development. 
Capital was still 
scarce ; transpor- 
tation, except 
over the Trail, 
constant menace. 

236. The First Mining Boom. — When the railroad 
came, in 1879, it brought prospectors and capitalists, and 
furnished the transportation facilities necessary for bringing 
in modern mining machinery and shipping out the products. 
In 1879-1880 the first great mining boom began. The 
early eighties saw great prosperity and rapid development. 
In 1883 the mines were turning out $4,000,000 in gold and 
silver alone, and by 1886, $6,000,000. 



■f^Ks^'mmm 




The "Rocker" in a Mining Camp 
totally lacking; and the Indians, a 



200 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

Silver was so much the largest item in this new stream 
of mineral wealth that when the " free-silver " agitation 
began in the West, New Mexico took up the cause ; and in 
January, i8pi, the legislature passed a resolution, drawn 
by Governor Prince, urging Congress to provide for the 
" free and unlimited coinage of silver . . . upon an equality 
with gold," because the gold standard, " resulting in the 
hoarding of the nation's wealth in the financial centers, 
and placing the country under tribute to Wall Street, is 
rapidly paralyzing the industries of this Territory, causing 
stagnation in all business enterprises, and can not but 
result disastrously to our every interest ..." 

237. Modern Mining. — But the disasters did not follow. 
Instead, the early nineties proved to be a period of great 
prosperity, particularly in the mining industry. 

The State is rich in minerals of almost every kind. In 
coal it is perhaps the richest in the Southwest. While 
California, Arizona, Texas, and Mexico are without any 
known deposits of coking coal, New Mexico has it in 
immense quantities. The present chief centers of coal 
production are in Colfax and McKinley counties ; but 
there are large deposits in Lincoln, Valencia, and Socorro 
counties, and the San Juan Basin, with over thirteen thou- 
sand square miles of coal land practically untouched, is 
likely to become the greatest coal field in the West when 
proper railroad facilities are provided for opening it up. 

There are also immense beds of iron ore in Lincoln, 
Sierra, and Socorro counties ; and in the latter county, at 
least, they lie side by side with great beds of coking coal. 
With transportation facilities increasing and business 
conditions becoming more stable, the day is coming nearer 
when New Mexico will be the center of a great iron industry. 



RAILROADS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 201 







Modern Steam Shovel Operations, Santa Rita Copper Mines 

The leading copper-producing region is in Grant and 
Hidalgo counties, though there are important fields in 
Otero, Dona Ana, Santa Fe, Socorro, Catron, and Valencia 



202 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

counties. Colfax (the Elizabethtown district) leads in the 
production of gold, followed by Grant and Socorro. The 
Mogollon district in Catron County is the center of silver 
production, with Lordsburg in Hidalgo County second. 
Socorro County (the Kelly district) leads in zinc production, 
with other important fields in Grant, Luna, and Santa Fe. 

238. Manufacturing. — Though the capital invested in 
manufacturing in the State has multiplied many times 
over in recent years, the whole industry is still in its in- 
fancy. The shops of the various railroad companies take 
first rank; and after them come lumber, printing, and 
milling. In the White Mountains, the Zuni Mountains, 
and elsewhere in the northwest are large forests of available 
timber for the manufacture of lumber. 

IV. DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

239. Historic Importance of Agriculture. — Agriculture, 
particularly small-scale intensive gardening, is New 
Mexico's most ancient industry. When the Spaniards 
first came to the country, the Pueblo Indians were produc- 
ing most of their living from their cornfields irrigated from 
flowing streams or primitive reservoirs, and from gardens 
frequently irrigated with water carried by human hands 
(sees. 7, 8). Through Spanish and Mexican times agri- 
culture continued to be one of the chief means of pro- 
ducing a living, though never a large-scale industry of 
commercial importance. The beginning of the American 
period brought no great change. Sheep and cattle raising 
furnished an easier method of acquiring a steady income 
in the open country; commerce and mining furnished 
better ventures for those who had a taste for speculative 
undertakings. 






RAILROADS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 



203 



After the coming of the railroads more and more of the 
newcomers were of the settler class who had come to build 
homes. Many of them had been farmers in other States. 
Here were all the conditions for the building up of a large 
farming industry — a rapidily increasing population to be 
fed, the resulting high prices for farm products, and an 

1 - . : :,-, , :; t— 1 




Apple Orchard in Bloom, Pecos Valley 



increasing element of farmers. By the end of the century 
agriculture was entering on its first period of large-scale 
production. 

240. Development of the Pecos Valley. — All the 
southeastern part of the State, embraced in Lincoln County 
until the Pecos Valley country was organized into the 
counties of Eddy and Chaves in i88q, was a great grazing 



204 THE HISTORY OF - NEW MEXICO 

country, with no agricultural possibilities because of the 
absence of a market until the nineties. The census of 
1880 showed that out of a total population of 2,500 in all 
this vast region (Lincoln County), 2,300 were native-born 
New Mexicans. Immigration into this region had hardly 
begun, and consisted of the few cattlemen who were drift- 
ing up the Pecos River, attracted by the fine lands of the 
valley. 

Roswell was a village of a few hundred inhabitants, 
freighting all their supplies overland from Las Vegas. 
Carlsbad (then called Eddy), a little nearer to the Texas 
and Pacific Railroad at Pecos, Texas, got its supplies from 
that point. The possibilities of the region, however, were 
so great that capitalists became interested, and in 1889 the 
Pecos Valley and Northeastern Railroad began building 
north from Pecos, Texas, toward the New Mexico line. 
The completion of this road to Carlsbad (1891) and Roswell 
(1894) gave the valley easy communication to the south- 
east and brought many settlers especially from Texas. 
Then in 1 898-1 899 the road was built from Roswell to 
Amarillo, opening railway communication with the Middle 
West. 

The Pecos Valley, therefore, isolated from the rest of 
the Territory and enjoying easy railroad connection with 
the States to the east, drew its population from those 
States and developed a life of its own quite separate and 
apart from the rest of New Mexico until the beginning of 
the present century (sec. 249) . 

241. Artesian Wells and Irrigation. — In the nineties the 
railroad brought population to the valley, and its agri- 
cultural development began. The first irrigation proj- 
ect along the Pecos River near Carlsbad, in what is now 



RAILROADS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 



205 



Eddy County, had been begun in 1888 by Charles W. Eddy 
and Pat F. Garrett ; and with the discovery of great 
quantities of artesian water at Roswell in 1890, the agri- 
cultural prospects of the Pecos Valley grew bright. Such 
thriving places as Carlsbad, Artesia, Hagerman, Roswell, 







Flowing Artesian Well in the Pecos Valley 

Portales, and Clovis bear abundant evidence of the progress 
of the agricultural interests in the valley and of the stock- 
raising industry on the near-by plains and mountains. 

242. The San Juan Basin. — Far away in the opposite 
corner of the State another new and remote agricultural 
region was growing up without any railroad connection 
toward the capital. The San Juan Basin had been well 
known to the Spaniards in the eighteenth century, and was 



206 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

on the Spanish Trail regularly followed by both New 
Mexicans and Americans throughout the middle period 
of the nineteenth ; but it was one of those regions into 
which Spanish settlement had never gone. Now in the 
late sixties and the seventies the sheep and cattle men 
began to move in and take possession of that fine grazing 
country. Many of them had fled from Lincoln and Colfax 
counties as law and order began to gain control in those 
regions. The San Juan country, into which courts and 
courthouses and sheriffs had not yet gone, offered a new 
field for their wild and lawless operations. Cattle " rus- 
tling " became a regular means of livelihood to many of 
the newcomers — except when it led to the ending of 
life. 

243. San Juan County. — Even in that remote region, 
however, the " bad men " were not to be left long in control. 
In 1887 the legislature organized the San Juan Basin into 
San Juan County. Then came the law, the western sheriff, 
and many pioneer settlers. The old days quickly passed. 
The building of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad from 
Durango to Farmington in 1905 gave easy communica- 
tion with the outside world. 

Fine agricultural land and the largest water supply in 
the State available for irrigation are the basic resources 
out of which San Juan is developing a great farming in- 
dustry. It is already the State's largest fruit-producing 
region. Grain and stock are the other important crops. 

244. Development of the East Side. — Like the Pecos 
Valley and the San Juan country, other new agricultural 
regions have grown up rapidly along the east side of the 
State. Lea, Roosevelt, Curry, Quay, Harding, and Union 
are all new counties with large and growing agricultural 



RAILROADS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 207 

interests. This whole eastern tier of counties that are 
now producing many millions in crops each year were 
roamed over by sheep and cattle and hardly known to any 
other industry prior to 1900. 

245. Agriculture the State's Chief Industry. — At the 
same time the older sections of the State have been develop- 
ing and expanding their farming areas. More land has 
been brought under cultivation by the construction of 
larger diversion dams and better systems of ditches. Sec- 
tions on the smaller streams formerly unused have been 
occupied by new settlers and developed in the same way. 
But this process of irrigation from flowing streams left 
many fertile valleys without water for agricultural develop- 
ment. To meet this need both the government and 
private corporations have begun the building of huge 
dams and reservoirs for holding the flood waters of the 
rainy seasons for use in dry periods and for raising the 
water level so that wider regions may be irrigated. 

246. Elephant Butte Dam. — Three of these irrigation 
projects are under the control of the United States Rec- 
lamation Service : The Hondo Project near Roswell, 
the Carlsbad Project, and the Elephant Butte Project. 

The Elephant Butte Dam (officially the " Wilson Dam ") 
across the Rio Grande in Sierra County is of sufficient 
magnitude to make it a matter of more than local interest. 
The original plan for building at this point, in the nineties, 
was a private enterprise promoted by Dr. Nathan E. 
Boyd, of Las Cruces, and financed largely by English 
capital ; but it was effectively blocked by the political 
influence of a syndicate of real estate speculators at El 
Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico. Their daring scheme 
for an " international dam " at El Paso would have robbed 



208 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

southern New Mexico of its biggest water rights. The 
whole scheme was built on the flimsy pretense that the 
Elephant Butte project would interfere with the " navi- 
gation " of the Rio Grande. Absurd as it was, it caused 
enough trouble to wreck the original enterprise. 



-^4v- 








The Elephant Butte Dam 

Then, with the camouflage cleared away and no large 
number of vessels " navigating " the shifting quicksands 
of the Rio Grande, the United States Department of the 
Interior built (1910-1916), at a cost of about $10,000,000, 
a great reenforced concrete dam more than two hundred 
feet high across the Rio Grande from hill to hill, strong 
enough to hold back a lake of water forty-five miles long 
and large enough to store all the waters of the river for a 
year. This lake has a capacity of 2,600,000 acre-feet of 



RAILROADS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 



209 



water — double the capacity of the Roosevelt Dam in 
Arizona. Below it are the broad Rincon, Mesilla, and El 
Paso valleys with nearly two hundred thousand acres of 
land to be brought under irrigation. 

247. Settling the Land Question. — In 1854 Congress 
extended American land laws to the Territory, providing a 




Harvest Time in the Pecos Valley 

free homestead of a hundred and sixty acres and setting 
aside two sections (16 and 36) in each township for schools. 
The office of surveyor general was created at the same time. 
In the old settled regions much of the best land had 
been reduced to private ownership under Spanish and 
Mexican grants or by constant occupation for generations 
back. The government undertook to investigate the titles 
to all these lands. Some holders refused to bring their 
papers into court ; others did not have the money to pay 
the fees ; and all regarded the process as needless inter- 
ference in their private affairs. Consequently many of 



2IO THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

the grants remained unconfirmed until after the coming 
of the railroads. Then homesteaders began to " take up " 
and " hold down " their claims in complete disregard of 
the old grants. 

Many of the grants were genuine ; others were of doubt- 
ful origin and of still more doubtful size and boundaries; 
while still others rested on out-and-out forgery and fraud. 
When a " white rock " or a " red hill " was an important 
boundary mark, it was always possible to find such an object 
a few miles farther on. One judge wittily remarked that 
in this fine climate, " not only does vegetation thrive 
and grow to enormous size by irrigation, but that land 
grants themselves grow immensely — without irrigation." 

248. The Court of Private Land Claims. — To meet this 
situation in New Mexico and a similar one in other States 
within the territory acquired from Mexico in 1848 and 
1853, Congress created the United States Court of Private 
Land Claims (1891), composed of five distinguished judges 
from different sections of the country, and provided with a 
large corps of translators, attorneys, and experts in Spanish 
and Mexican land law and government.. When it finished 
its work and went out of existence in 1904, it had confirmed 
the title to almost two million acres of grant lands and 
had rejected nearly thirty-three million acres within the 
Territory, besides smaller amounts in Arizona, Colorado, 
and elsewhere. 

249. Better Railroad Communication. — After the com- 
ing of the Santa Fe and the Southern Pacific (sees. 224, 
225), railroad building in the Territory stood still for a 
decade, until the Pecos Valley and Northeastern (now part 
of the Santa Fe System) began to build from Pecos, Texas, 
in 1889, up the Pecos Valley, and out toward Amarillo, 



RAILROADS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 211 

Texas. Finally, near the end of the century, the Rock 
Island built in from the northeast; and in 1901 the El 
Paso and Northeastern (now the El Paso and South- 
western), which had been begun at El Paso in 1897, met 
the Rock Island at Santa Rosa and opened another through 
line. 

So far the railroad lines tended to parallel each other 
in a general northeast and southwest direction, leaving each 
of these long regions isolated from the other. The first 
break in this isolation came in 1903 with the opening of the 
Santa Fe Central (now New Mexico Central) from the 
capital to Torrance, giving railroad communication be- 
tween the central Rio Grande Valley and the new eastern 
region opened up by the Rock Island and the EI Paso and 
Northeastern. Two years later (1905) the Dawson Rail- 
way was completed from Tucumcari to Dawson, and the 
El Paso and Southwestern, recently built into El Paso 
from Arizona, bought this line and the El Paso and North- 
eastern to Santa Rosa. Then in 1907 it bought the Rock 
Island road from Santa Rosa to Tucumcari, thus completing 
its line from its Dawson coal fields to its copper mines in 
southeastern Arizona. 

Finally in 1909 the Santa Fe System completed the Belen 

Cut-OfT from its main line south of Albuquerque to Clovis on 

the Pecos Valley line, reaching another isolated region and 

bringing the Pecos Valley and east side more directly into 

the current of the Territory's political, social, and economic 

life just as statehood was coming. 

GENERAL READINGS 

H. H. Bancroft, History of Arizona and New Mexico, 748-778. 
L. B. Prince, A Concise History of New Mexico, 191-219. 
R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, II, 280- 
606, III-V; a great store of scattered information. 



212 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

SPECIAL TOPICS 

The class should work up, on the cooperative plan, the development of 
its own locality. Material will be found in local publications, the Report 
of the United States Census, the New Mexico Blue Book, Reports of Gover- 
nors and other State officials, and in Twitchell's The Leading Facts of New 
Mexican History, especially III and IV. 

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

i. Why was the failure to build the Southern Pacific Railroad in the 
sixties a great calamity to New Mexico ? 

2. What were the conditions of travel and communication prior to 1880? 
When did the telegraph reach New Mexico? 

3. Why did the overland trade increase rapidly? Why did it not grow 
more rapidly? 

4. Draw a map showing the railroads in New Mexico in 1881. Why 
did f hey follow the old trails ? 

5. What influence did the roads have? What new problems did they 
bring? 

6. Why was stock raising the earliest industry of commercial importance ? 
Why did the first cattle boom not come until after 1880? V,ho was John 
S. Chisum? 

7. What important changes are taking place in the live-stock business? 
What are the principal dairying sections ? 

8. What do we know about mining in Spanish and Mexican times ? In 
the early American period? 

9. When was the first mining boom? Why? What influence did silver 
production have on political opinion in the Territory? Illustrate. 

10. Draw a map showing the principal mining regions of the State. 
Different colors may be used to indicate different minerals. 

11. What is the State's oldest industry? Why did it not become a 
large-scale industry as early as stock raising? 

12. Why were the Pecos Valley and the San Juan Basin late in develop- 
ing? Why have they grown rapidly in recent years ? What are the 
chief industries of each? 

13. Discuss the importance of irrigation in the State. Why was the dis- 
covery of artesian water at Roswell in 1890 a great event? 

14. What government irrigation projects are there in the State? Give 
an account of the Elephant Butte Project. 

15. What was the land question to be settled? How had titles to land 
been secured? Why was settlement more difficult in the nineties than it. 
would have been soon after the American Occupation? 

16. What was the United States Court of Private Land Claims? 

17. Draw a railroad map of the State for the year 1901. Then add to it 
in a different color the Santa Fe Central, the Dawsn Railway,- and the 
Belen Cut-Off, and show the special importance of these roads built in 
1903-1909. 



CHAPTER XIV 

EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1850 

250. Educational Conditions in 1850. — At the beginning 
of the American period educational conditions in New 
Mexico were at low ebb. Most of the missionaries were 
gone ; and for many years the government had been shifting 
and unstable. Population was sparse, distances were great, 
good roads were unknown, savage Indians were roaming 
everywhere. In abject poverty the masses of the people 
were struggling for bare existence. Only the sons of the 
few wealthy families were educated ; and even these favored 
individuals had been compelled to make the long overland 
journey to St. Louis or elsewhere in the United States 
or Mexico. As a rule, girls and women received no educa- 
tion at all. 

In December, 1847, Governor Vigil reported that there 
was but one public school in the Territory and that there 
were no private schools or academies. The census of 1850 
indicated that about seven-eighths of the adult population 
were illiterate. " In no part of the United States," said 
the legislature of 1853, " are the means of education so 
deficient, as in New Mexico." A year later (1854) they 
again urged, " The Territory is entirely without schools, 
except in the capital, in which there is one or two supported 
by private subscription." 

213 



214 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 
I. PRIVATE SCHOOLS 



251. Catholic Schools, 1850-1870. — In 1851, when 
Bishop John B. Lamy came to Santa Fe to take charge 
of the work of the Catholic Church in the Territory, he 
reported the churches in ruins and no schools at all, though 
it appears that by that time there were a few private schools. 




St. Michael's College, Santa Fe 

Reforms were badly needed; and Lamy had come as a 
reformer believing in education as the principal agency 
for getting results. The very year of his arrival (1851) 
he established a free English school in Santa Fe. The next 
year (1852) he brought in five Sisters of Loretto and began 
to establish convents and academies. The first of them 
was the Loretto Academy and Convent at Santa Fe, 
founded January 1, 1853. In 1859 he brought the first 
Christian Brothers and founded St. Michael's College 



EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1850 



215 



at Santa Fe. The founding of the Jesuit college at Las 
Vegas, 1877, was also the work of his hands. 

By 1865, he was able to report that he had thirty-seven 
earnest priests and a half dozen other workers, had built 
forty-five new churches, repaired eighteen or twenty others, 
and had laid the foundations for a system of Catholic 
schools. He became archbishop in 1875, and continued his 
labors almost to the time of his death in 1888. Lamy is 
the great name in Catholic education in nineteenth century 
New Mexico. 

252. Protestant 
Mission Schools, 1850- 
1870.— Prior to the 
American Occupation r.. 
Catholic missionaries 



had the N 



ew 



Mexico 




field all to themselves. 
After the close of the 
Mexican War Protestant 
missionaries from the 
United States began to 
enter the field, though 
for many years they 
made little headway. The 
Baptists led the way, es- 
tablishing the first Prot- 
estant mission school in Santa Fe in 1849 and building the 
first Protestant church in 1853. The Methodists follow- 
ed and established a school in Santa Fe in 1850, but closed 
it in 1852 and did very little until the seventies. The Pres- 
byterians came in 185 1, but accomplished nothing until 
the Civil War. when they bought the property of the Bap- 



First Protestant Church in New 

Mexico, Santa Fe, Built by 

the Baptists, 1853 



2l6 THE HISTORY OE NEW MEXICO 

tists in Santa Fe in 1866 and sarted a mission school there 
the next year. Episcopalians followed in 1863; and Con- 
gregationalists, in 1878. They all established mission 
schools as a leading part of their work. 

Just as the railroad was coming the Congregationalists 
established an academy at Santa Fe in 1878 and others at 
Las Vegas and Albuquerque the following year, to be con- 
ducted by the New West Education Commission, which, 
in 1881, incorporated a private school at Santa Fe known 
as the " University of New Mexico." 

Such institutions as the Menaul School (Presbyterian), 
the Rio Grande Industrial School (Congregationalist), and 
the Harwood Industrial School (Methodist) are good 
modern examples of Protestant missionary work in educa- 
tion. 

II. ATTEMPTS AT PUBLIC EDUCATION 

253. No Help from Congress. — Although Catholics 
and Protestants alike were establishing schools in various 
parts of the Territory, the rising generation was still grow- 
ing up in ignorance. Moreover, the feeling of public 
responsibility for education was not so strong in the United 
States then as it has become in recent times, and the 
American Congress proved to be as neglectful of education 
in New Mexico as Spain and Mexico had been. 

If Congress had risen to the moral opportunity for 
establishing an American school system in New Mexico 
then as it did fifty years later in the Philippines and Porto 
Rico, New Mexico might have entered the Union as one of 
the wealthiest and most progressive States. But Congress 
failed, and New Mexico has had to work out her own 
educational salvation. 



EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1850 217 

254. The First Step, 1856. — In February, 1856, the 
legislature attempted to lay the foundations for the begin- 
ning of a public school system supported by direct public 
taxation at the rate of one dollar per thousand and exempt- 
ing property owned in excess of fifty thousand dollars. 
Even with this concession to the wealthy few, such a storm 
of protest went up in Socorro, Santa Ana, Rio Arriba, and 
Taos counties that they were allowed a popular referendum 
on the law. Five thousand and sixteen votes were cast 
against the school system and only thirty-seven for it. The 
entire act was repealed the following December (1856), 
and the Territory continued to drift in the dark. 

255. Reasons for the Opposition. — A system of free 
public schools supported by public taxation and not con- 
nected with the Church in any way was absolutely unknown 
in New Mexico, unheard of even until recent years. The 
whole idea was a new one imported from the States. 
Whether it was a good one or not, the average New Mexican 
was not sure. Its chief spokesmen were Americans and 
Protestants. It might be part of a deep-laid scheme to 
educate the children away from the Catholic Church. 
These suspicions, though groundless, were very real and 
powerful influences operating against a public school 
system. 

Another mighty influence was the native disinclina- 
tion to pay taxes, so clearly in evidence in the Revolt of 
1837 (sec. 135) and again in the nineties (sec. 262). Most of 
the wealth of the Territory, in both land and live stock, 
was in the possession of a few people, who had no desire 
to be taxed for the education of the poor. Besides, the 
small settlements and ranches were widely separated, and 
the wild tribes roamed almost at will over every square 



2l8 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



mile of the Territory. Geronimo and his Apache warriors 
were finally captured (sec. 216) less than five years before 
the founding of the public school system in 189 1. 

256. The First Public School Law, 1860. — Thus matters 
drifted until i860, when the legislature passed what was 
really the first public school law of the Territory. It 
provided for a school in each settlement, to be supported 
by a tax of fifty cents a month for each child who attended, 





["T < 


n r 




I 


gj Pf 1 1 . * 



Spanish-American Normal School 

— and attendance was compulsory. These were public 
schools, but they were not free schools. The scheme, 
however, met the objection of the rich to paying for the 
education of the poor, and remained in force, with some 
modifications, for the next thirty years. 

In 1863 the legislature made further regulations for 
the " education of all the children within the limits of this 
Territory . . . so far as the school funds will justify." 
But where were those funds coming from? The law re- 






EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1850 219 

f erred to them as being " derived from the government 
of the United States and from Territorial appropriations." 
Here was another educational hope built on nothing. The 
legislature did not appropriate a dollar ; and it was already 
a well-known fact that Congress would do nothing. Worse 
still was the fact that the large grants of public lands 
(sections 16 and 36 in each township) which the govern- 
ment had set aside for school purposes were then wholly 
worthless because there were no buyers. Finally, in 
February, 1872, the legislature levied the first poll tax of 
one dollar a year for each able-bodied man twenty-one 
years old and assigned it to " school purposes exclusively." 
The liquor tax and fines for the violation of Sunday laws, 
added in 1876, completed the public revenues provided for 
schools until after 1890. 

257. A Correction. — An oft-repeated slander to the 
effect that as late as 1889 the only qualification for a 
school teacher in New Mexico was that he should be able to 
read and write either Spanish or English, deserves to be 
set at rest once and for all. Here are the facts. In 1889 
the legislature passed an act requiring that justices of 
the peace, constables, and other local officers, including 
school officers, should be able to read and write sufficiently 
well to keep their records in either English or Spanish ; 
and through some carelessness " school teacher " appeared 
in the statute along with other school officers. To make 
this perfectly clear, after the mistake had been discovered, 
the legislature of 1893 amended the act by striking out 
the words, " school teacher." 

III. THE PUBLIC SCHOOL ' SYSTEM 

258. New Elements in the Situation. — These chaotic 



2 20 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



conditions obtained down to 1890. That New Mexico 
had no school system was the one hard fact that the public 
could not get away from. The children of the Territory 
were growing up in ignorance in the decade from 1880 to 
1890, when wealth was increasing as never before. 

The coming of the railroads had brought men of every 
kind and from everywhere. Among them were great 
numbers of that restless, active type of people who con- 
stantly seek the newer regions 
of the frontier. Charmed by 
the new wild life on New 
Mexico's plains and mountains, 
or engrossed in the new wealth 
they were winning in mining, 
stock ranching, merchandising, 
or speculating, they forgot the 
finer thing of building up a new 
civilization for themselves and 
their children. Many of them, 
of course, had no families and 
no intention of staying in New 
Mexico any longer than was 
necessary to secure an easy fortune to take away with 
them. Like some of the wealthy New Mexicans before 
them, they did not want to contribute a dollar of their 
money to anything. 

But as the decade (1 880-1 890) advanced a new type of 
immigrants came in increasing numbers. They were the 
settler class who came to build homes and grow up with the * 
new country. Accustomed to public education in the 
older States, they were immediately struck by the absence 
of educational opportunities for their children. Soon 




Hiram Hadley, Pioneer 
Educator 



EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1850 



221 



groups of earnest men here and there were seriously dis- 
cussing the problem of education. Only a population of 
educated and intelligent men and women would ever 
develop New Mexico's natural resources and build here a 
great State. 

259. The New Mexico Educational Association. — The 
first public evidence of the new movement came in Decem- 
ber, 1886, when the New Mexico Educational Associa- 




tion was organized at Santa Fe for the purpose of keeping 
before the people the chaotic and deplorable educational 
conditions and bringing public sentiment to bear on the 
problem of securing material aid for the schools. That 
body has grown steadily, exercised an influence, and en- 
rolled a proportion of the teachers hardly known to like 
organizations anywhere else in the country. 

Another group of such men meeting in the real-estate 
office of Hiram Hadley at Las Cruces in 1888 worked out 
the plans for starting that fall the Las Cruces College, a 



222 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

private school which later developed into the State Agri- 
cultural College. 

260. Passage of the Common School Law, 1891. — 

Such work was preparing the way for a new education law. 
When the twenty-ninth Legislative Assembly met in Decem- 
ber, 1890, Governor Prince urged upon it the creation of a 
modern and up-to-date school system as its most important 
duty. The old series of makeshift acts that had passed as 
public school laws had long been known as utter failures and 
were not worth patching up. Nothing short of a new sys- 
tem would meet the needs of the Territory's expanding life. 
The governor had chosen his time wisely and well. The 
agitation of recent years had made its impression on the 
public. The ignorance, hidebound conservatism, selfish 
interests, and selfish individuals that had had their way in 
the Territory for forty years were now marked for defeat. 
The Education Bill became law February 12, 1891. 

261. Organization of the School System. — The new law 
created the office of superintendent of public instruction 
to be filled by the governor's appointment, and a Territorial 
board of education composed of the governor, superintend- 
ent of public instruction, and the presidents of the Uni- 
versity, the Agricultural College, and St. Michael's College. 
This board was given wide powers for the organization 
and control of the entire school system and the adoption 
of a uniform system of textbooks. 

The first step toward the organization of the new system 
was taken when Governor Prince appointed Amado Chaves, 
a graduate of St. Michael's College, as first Territorial 
superintendent of public instruction — an appointment 
which at once disarmed any possible suspicion that the 
public school system might be an American scheme for 



EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1850 223 

training children away from the Catholic Church ; for Mr. 
Chaves was both Spanish in blood and Catholic in religion. 
262. Public Education at Public Expense. — Perhaps 
the newest feature of this new school law was the pro- 
vision for supporting the schools by public taxation. The 
payment of the poll tax was now made a qualification for 




Main Building, New Mexico Normal University 

voting — a provision which proved so unpopular that it 
was repealed at the next session of the legislature (1893). 
These new schools were to be not only public, but free 
and supported at public expense. The old monthly tuition 
fee was gone. New Mexico was emerging from forty years 
of wandering in the wilderness of ignorance and ready to 
begin to apply the sound maxim that in a democracy every 
dollar of wealth is under a first mortgage for the education 



224 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

of all the children of all the people. That is their birth- 
right. 

263. An Era of Rapid Progress. — The superintendent's 
report for the first year under the system (1891-1892) 
showed over five hundred public schools with 23,000 pupils 
enrolled. Adding to this the sixty private schools with 
4,000 students and the enrollment in the Territorial insti- 
tutions brings the total for the year up to more than 27,000. 

Until the end of the century progress was slow, the en- 
rollment in the public schools not reaching the 30,000 
mark until 1900. Then the move upward became more 
rapid. The tidal wave of immigration, the forerunner of 
the first dry-farming boom, soon began to move into the 
eastern counties, new school districts were created, and 
new schools sprang up. In this period of rapid change 
Governor Otero rendered the Territory his greatest educa- 
tional service by the appointment of Hiram Hadley, former 
president of the Agricultural College, as Territorial superin- 
tendent of public instruction (March, 1905). Mr. Hadley 
was an educator of large ability and great personal mag- 
netism, with unbounded energy and enthusiasm for the 
work. He brought to his new task the ripe experience of 
fifty years in educational work, fifteen years of it in New 
Mexico. Such fine leadership furnished the motive force 
necessary to start the great era of educational progress that 
has marked recent years. 

264. Lengthening the School Term. — During the early 
years of this great forward movement the average school 
term was very short. In some of the towns and cities it 
stood at full nine months, but in the poorer and more 
sparsely settled rural districts it was seldom more than 
two months. To improve the situation somewhat the 



EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1850 225 

legislature of 1903 required a minimum term of three months 
in every district and provided special funds to aid weak 
districts. Then the State constitution, effective January 6, 
191 2, raised the minimum requirement to five months. 
And the State legislature of 191 5 took another forward 
step by advancing the minimum term to seven months. 

265. County High Schools. — The cities already had 
good high schools, but the rural districts had none. The 
first State legislature (191 2) passed a general county high- 
school law under which, as amended in 1913, any county 
might by special election establish one or more county 
high schools supported by a general county tax and free 
to all children of high-school grade in the county. During 
the spring and summer of 1913 such high schools were 
voted in Bernalillo, Colfax, Eddy, Luna, and Otero counties, 
and were opened in September of that year. At the time 
of this writing (192 1) there are sixteen county high schools 
in thirteen counties of the State, and others are sure to 
follow until there is at least one in every county. 

266. Industrial Education. — The same session of the 
legislature (191 2) that provided for the establishment of 
county high schools also made provision for the intro- 
duction of industrial subjects into the course of study in the 
public schools. The scope of this work was greatly ex- 
tended in 191 7, when the State entered into a cooperative 
arrangement with the United States government for carry- 
ing on vocational training under the general provisions of the 
Smith-Hughes Act. Extensive work in agriculture, home 
economics, and trades and industries, and in the training 
of teachers of these subjects is under way in the high schools 
and educational institutions of the State. 

267. The Elimination of Illiteracy. — The effect of the 



226 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

school system was plainly apparent in the decade from 1900 
to 1 9 10, when the percentage of illiteracy in the State 
decreased from 32.2 per cent to 20.2 per cent, or more than 
a third in ten years. Still the percentage was high, only 
Arizona (20.9 per cent) among all the western States having 
a larger proportion. Soon the educational forces of the 
State began to give serious attention to these conditions, 
and the State Educational Association made the problem 
of illiteracy the central theme of its meeting at Albuquerque 
in 191 5. Public attention was focused on it ; night schools 
for adults sprang up in various parts of the State only to be 
snuffed out and forgotten in America's entrance into the 
Great War. 

That loss, however, has been more than compensated for 
since the war by the Federal government's provision for the 
training and rehabilitation of disabled soldiers, sailors, 
and marines, and of persons disabled in industry. 

268. Achievements and Shortcomings. — It is doubtful 
whether there is any other country in the world where so 
much educational progress has been made in the same 
length of time as has been made in New Mexico since 1891, 
and especially since 1900. The record is one to be proud of. 
But the State cannot afford to forget that progress and 
achievement are relative, and that her neighbor States are 
likely to outdistance her. New Mexico spends a smaller 
amount per capita on public education than any other 
western State, and she assesses her taxable wealth at a 
lower rate for education than any other western State. 
Her teachers are correspondingly underpaid. One of two 
things must happen : the State must make more adequate 
provision for school equipment and teachers' salaries, or 
the training of her children must suffer. 



EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1850 



227 



IV. HIGHER EDUCATION 

269. Founding the State Institutions. — In New Mexico, 
as elsewhere, the higher institutions of learning are older 
than the common school system. February 28, 1889, 
Governor Edmund G. Ross signed the bill creating the 
University, at Albuquerque ; the Agricultural College, at 
Las Cruces ; and the School of Mines, at Socorro, with a 
" territorial institution fund " for their support and general 
improvement. 1 





" 1 




. ■ : '": ' ■'. ■ •.■.-;."-•';■•'■; ^#-.4v 



A Campus View, New Mexico College of Agriculture and 
Mechanic Arts 

270. The Agricultural College. — The Agricultural Col- 
lege was located at Las Cruces, where the older students of 
Professor Hadley's Las Cruces College (sec. 259) formed the 

1 An interesting story is told of the hot competition for the Agricultural College, which, 
because of its partial support and direct connection with the United States government, was 
the most important of the group. Enterprising citizens of Las Cruces and the Mesilla Valley, 
to show the superiority of their section as the location for an agricultural college, got to- 
gether a fine lot of fresh lettuce, spinach, radishes, young onions, and other vegetables from 
their winter gardens, shipped them to Santa Fe, and gave a big dinner to members of the 
legislature at the old Palace Hotel, in Feb-uary. 1889, placing on each plate a card with the 
legend, "Grown in the Mesilla Valley." The Albuquerque boosters, not to be outdone, 
announced that_ thev would give a amflar dinner from their gardens. Then the sly Las 
Cruces gronn shooed awav to a renting office and secured some nice cards hearing the in- 
scription : "These vegetables would have be<>" fresher if the exoress from California had not 
been delayed by heavy snows around Flagstaff." which thev prooosed to place on every plate 
of Albuquerque products. But they had all their trouble for nothing: the Albuquerque 
dinner was never given. 



2 28 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

nucleus of the new institution when it was opened in January, 
1890, with thirty-five students and a faculty of eight, with 
Professor Hadley as it's first president. This institution 
is one of the Federal land-grant colleges provided for in 
the Morrill Act of Congress, July 2, 1862, and is the oldest 
of the State educational institutions. It has developed a 
strong and varied curriculum, a large student body, and an 
Extension Service that covers the entire State, while the 
work of the Experiment Station is of great value to the 
farming and stock-raising industries. 

From small beginnings and a very elementary curriculum, 
the College grew steadily in size and constantly raised its 
academic standards until 1909, when the course of study 
was placed on a strictly college basis, requiring four years of 
high-school work for entrance to the freshmen class. When 
the United States Bureau of Education made its official 
classification of American colleges and universities in 191 2, 
the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts 
was one of the six agricultural colleges receiving the highest 
rank. 

271. The University. — The State University, created by 
the law of 1889, was to be an integral part of the public 
educational system, whenever there should be such a 
system. 

The new institution began work with a summer term in 
1892, held in the building of the Albuquerque Academy 
(now the Albuquerque Public Library) and attended by 
seventy-five students, chiefly prospective teachers. That 
fall the University opened the doors of its new building 
" on the hill " for the beginning of its first regular term. 
It had a faculty of four and enrolled eighty students during 
the year. The curriculum was very elementary and would 



EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1850 



229 



look poor by the side of the course of study of a modern 
high school. Like the Agricultural College, however, 
it has steadily raised its standards, until to-day it has a 
strong faculty and a large student body from New Mexico 
and elsewhere. 




272. The School of Mines. — Along with the Agri- 
cultural College and the University was created the School 
of Mines to be located at Socorro. Its first building was 
completed in 1892, though the necessary equipment and 
funds for actually opening the school were not available 
until September, 1895. It na d twenty- three students and 
a faculty of five the first year. 

Like the Agricultural College and the University, the 
School of Mines was starting on a long period of slow 



230 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



growth. Its location in a rich mining region has furnished 
the necessary contact with the mining industry for the 
development of the proper attitude toward mining problems 
and for securing experience in the practice of mining 
engineering. 

273. The Military Institute. — In the fall of 1891 
Colonel Robert S. Goss opened a private school known as 




Administration Building, New Mexico School of Mines 



the Goss Military Institute in the town of Roswell. In 
February, 1893, the legislature adopted Colonel Goss's 
school as the New Mexico Military Institute. Otherwise 
there was no connection between the two schools ; for 
when the Goss Military Institute closed and its faculty 
scattered in 1896, there were still no funds available for the 
new Territorial institution. In September, 1898, it opened 
its doors. The enrollment of a hundred that year was 
miscellaneous in character, including several girls. During 



EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1850 



231 



that first year, however, the Institute found itself ; and at 
the opening of the second year it went on to a strict military 
school basis, requiring all students to live in the institu- 




• New Mm Military Institute 



tion and remain at all times under school regulations 
and military discipline — the first experiment of the kind 
west of the Mississippi River. It succeeded from the 
beginning. 



232 THE HISTORY OE NEW MEXICO 

The Institute was first recognized by the United States 
government in 1909, when it was one of only six military 
schools in the country placed in the distinguished list of 
the War Department. It is now rated as one of the honor 
military schools of the United States. 

274. The Normal Schools. — The same month (Feb- 
ruary, 1893) m which the Military Institute was created 
the legislature passed another act creating two normal 
schools to be located at Silver City and Las Vegas. The 
Silver City institution opened its first session in the Presbyte- 
rian church in September, 1894, but had no building of its 
own until 1896. The Las Vegas normal was not opened 
until October, 1898 ; and before the close of its first year 
its ambitious president, Dr. Edgar L. Hewett, conceived 
the idea of making it a teachers' college and secured from 
the legislature (February, 1899) a special act changing its 
name to the New Mexico Normal University. 

The last session of the Territorial legislature (March, 
1909) created the Spanish- American Normal School at 
El Rito to serve as a center for the training of teachers 
for the rural schools in the Spanish-speaking sections of 
the northern and western parts of the State. Its first 
session opened the following September (1909). 

275. School of American Research. — The Archae- 
ological Institute of America has been carrying on work in 
the Southwest for more than a generation. In 1909 the 
legislature created the Museum of New Mexico under the 
joint control of the State and the Archaeological Institute. 
In it is deposited the Institute's great southwestern collec- 
tion. This collection and that of the Historical Society 
of New Mexico are housed in the historic old Palace of the 
Governors, the oldest government building in the United 



EDUCATIONAL DEVEOPMENT SINCE 1850 233 

States. In this Museum the Archaeological Institute 
soon started the School of American Archaeology, now the 
School of American Research. It is not a school in the ordi- 
nary sense, devoting its energies to teaching; but is an 
institution primarily engaged in archaeological investi- 
gation and in research in the early history of the peoples 
who have occupied this region. Around the Museum and 
the School has grown up a notable colony of scholars and 
artists from various parts of the country. 

• 

GENERAL READINGS 

H. H. Bancroft, History of Arizona and New Mexico, 774-776. 
L. B. Prince, A Concise History of New Mexico, 252-258. 
B. M. Read, Illustrated History of New Mexico, 533-561. 
R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, II, 328- 
356, 506-50Q; V, 124-130, 164-201. 

J. H. VAUGHAN, History of Education in New Mexico, Chapters V-LX. 

SPECIAL TOPICS 

The class should work up, on the cooperative plan, the early history of 
schools in its town or county. 

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Why were educational conditions in 1850 particularly backward? 
Were private schools more important from 1850 to 1890 than they are 
to-day? Why? 

2. Give an account of the educational work of Bishop Lamy; of the 
Protestant denominations. 

3. What steps toward a public school system were taken in 1856? Why 
did they fail? Should ongress have helped? Why? 

4. How were the public schools established in i860 supported? What 
were the first public re enues provided for them? When? 

5. What change of sentiment regarding public education took place be- 
tween 1880 and 1890? Of what importance was the New Mexico Educa- 
tional Association? 

6. When was the public school system established? How old is it? 
When did the present era of rapid educational progress begin? What were 
some of the influences that brou ht it about? 



234 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

7. What provisions have been made for lengthening the school term? 
How rapidly is illiteracy being eliminated? 

8. When were county high schools first established? What progress 
has been made in vocational education ? 

9. How does New Mexico compare with other western States in the 
amount spent for public educati n? Why is that fact important? 

10. Sketch briefly the origin and development of the Agricultural College, 
the University, the School of Mi es, the Military Institute, the Normal 
Schools, and the School of American Research. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE BEGINNINGS OF STATEHOOD 

I. THE STATEHOOD MOVEMENT 

276. Early Efforts. — The collapse of the " State " 
government of 1850 (sec. 182) put an end to the movement 
for many years. In 1866, however, a convention framed 
another constitution and submitted it to popular vote. 
Still others followed in 1870-187 2, while in Congress a 
very different movement was on foot. The name " New 
Mexico," older than Plymouth, or even Jamestown, was 
not popular with Easterners. Some of them, really opposed 
to every extension of western influence, now proposed to 
organize the Territory as the " State of Lincoln." Even in 
that form the bill did not pass. 

277. A Thoughtless Act Defeats Statehood. — In 1874- 
1875 Stephen B. Elkins, then Delegate in Congress from 
New Mexico, joined the Delegate from Colorado in a fight 
to have the two Territories admitted into the Union. The 
East was hostile ; but both men were Republicans and 
succeeded in making statehood something of a party 
measure in order to secure eastern votes. They also 
counted on securing some Democratic votes from the South, 
because the South was more favorable to western develop- 
ment and because both Territories were either doubtful 
or Democratic. 

In the spring of 1875 success seemed in sight, when 
New Mexico's prospects were ruined by a thoughtless 

235 



236 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

act. One of the old " force bills " of the Reconstruction 
period was being discussed in the House. A new and 
unknown Republican congressman by the name of Burrus, 
from Michigan, seized the opportunity to win notoriety by 
making a " bloody-shirt " speech, in which, as an eye- 
witness puts it, " he grilled the Southerners from head 
to foot " with bitter denunciation. During the last five 
minutes of the speech Mr. Elkins stood near by " as if 
spellbound, listening to him," and when Burrus closed 
" with a flood of invective," Elkins was the first man to 
rush up and congratulate him. The Southerners, in a life- 
and-death struggle to preserve their States from Negro 
rule, never forgave Elkins nor forgot that he was the Dele- 
gate from New Mexico ; and on the final roll call they voted 
for Colorado and against New Mexico. Colorado became 
a State ; New Mexico remained a Territory. The " Elkins 
handshake " had defeated statehood. 

278. Influence of the Railroads. — The period of 
rapid development in mining, stock raising, and town 
building that followed the coming of the first railroad in 
1879 and the expansion of railroad facilities in the next 
few years brought a lull in statehood agitation. The 
people were too much absorbed in the rapid growth of 
their material wealth to give much time to National politics. 
Toward the end of the eighties (in 188 7-1 890), however, 
another movement was started in Washington to admit 
New Mexico, this time with the absurd name of the " State 
of Montezuma." But the name did no harm ; for all 
these bills died without passing Congress. 

While North and South Dakota, Montana, Washington, 
Idaho, and Wyoming were becoming States, the Republi- 
can Congress saw no good reason why Democratic New 



THE BEGINNINGS OF STATEHOOD 237 

Mexico should be made a State. In this situation the 
Territorial legislature provided for another constitutional 
convention to meet at Santa Fe, in September, 1889, and 
frame a constitution. 

But in arranging for the convention there had been 
such inequalities in the distribution of seats that the 
Democrats stayed away from the elections and there 
was only one Democrat in the convention. As a result, 
when the constitution was submitted to popular vote in 
October, 1890, it was rejected by a decisive majority. Thus 
matters drifted until after the Spanish-American War. 

II. THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 

279. The Call for Volunteers. — When the storm broke 
over Cuba in 1898, President McKinley called on New 
Mexico for her quota of three hundred and forty volunteer 
cavalrymen as part of a regiment of western cowboys for 
service in Cuba under Captain Leonard Wood and Lieuten- 
ant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. In eight days the 
entire quota was mustered into service at Santa Fe and 
ready to proceed to San Antonio, Texas, for regimental 
organization. 

280. The Rough-Rider Regiment. — This fine south- 
western regiment composed of men from New Mexico, 
Arizona, Oklahoma, and Indian Territory, with a few 
scattering individuals from almost everywhere, was a 
gathering of rugged men ready to be trained into dogged 
fighters who would give a good account of themselves. 
But it was no cowboy regiment. " Roosevelt's Rough 
Riders," says Colonel Twitchell, " were clerks, stenog- 
raphers, college men, coal diggers, bartenders, printers, rail- 
road men, mechanics, hack drivers, miners, prospectors, 



2 3 8 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



and a respectable contingent of ' punchers ' of the true 
southwestern plains variety." They soon became both 
rough riders and good soldiers. 

281. Fighting in Cuba. — Leaving San Antonio, May 
29, this Rough-Rider regiment proceeded by way of Tampa, 
Florida, to Cuba, landing near Santiago, on June 22 — 

just in time to be in 
action at Las Guasimas 
(gwa-se'mas), the first 
engagement in Cuba, 
two days later. At El 
Caney (ka/ni) and San 
Juan, July 1-3, they won 
brilliant victories. But 
their fighting was soon 
over ; for when Santiago 
surrendered, July 17, 
the war in Cuba ended, 
and Porto Rico surren- 
dered without a battle. 
On August 7 they left 
General Nelson A. Miles Cuba; September 15 

they were discharged from service. 

The second call for volunteers came so late and the 
war ended so suddenly that the " Big-Four " regiment from 
New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Indian Territory 
had not yet left Camp Churchman, Georgia, when Santiago 
surrendered and the Spanish opposition collapsed. They 
returned home without seeing any active service. 

III. THE WINNING OF STATEHOOD 

282. The Moral Victory. — New Mexico had been called 




THE BEGINNINGS OF STATEHOOD 239 

on in a National crisis and had made good. The Rough- 
Rider Regiment had done such credit to itself and its 
section that even the solidly Republican Congress would 
nnd it more difficult now to ignore the demands of these 
four southwestern Territories — New Mexico, Arizona, 
Oklahoma, and Indian Territory — for self-government. 

The case of New Mexico was somewhat changed, too, by 
the fact that her Delegates in Congress in recent years 
were generally Republican. In fact, there were indica- 
tions that the political complexion of the Territory had 
changed. Prior to 1896 New Mexico had generally been 
Democratic. In the elections of that year, though the 
Democrats retained control of the Legislative Council, 
the Republicans carried the House of Representatives ; 
and after that year both houses became safely Republican. 

283. Union with Arizona Proposed, 1906. — Even then a 
certain unworthy jealousy of southwestern influence showed 
its control over Congress by the proposal to organize the 
four Territories into only two States, — Oklahoma and 
Indian Territory to become the State of Oklahoma, and 
New Mexico and Arizona to become the State of Arizona. 

The New England and eastern influences opposed to 
the admission of any new western States, knowing that 
New Mexico and Arizona would not unite, saw in this 
joint-statehood proposition a cheap method of " saving 
the face " of their party, which had pledged itself to " State- 
hood for the Territories." 

284. Joint Statehood Defeated. — The outcome was 
never in doubt. Arizona was strongly Democratic ; New 
Mexico, doubtful or probably Republican. Arizona had 
fewer than 150,000 people ; New Mexico, probably 250,000. 
If they were yoked together, New Mexico would be the 



240 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



dominant partner in the new concern. The name ' ' Arizona " 
was not sufficient compensation for this loss of power. 
Arizona, therefore, defeated it overwhelmingly, while New 
Mexico, better satisfied with the situation because her 
larger population assured her a controlling influence in the 
new State for years to come, accepted it. Accepted by one 




Courtesy of Shipley Bros. Cattle Co. 

Herefords on the Range To-day 



Territory and rejected by the other, the proposition was 
dead — as Congress expected. 

285. The Enabling Act of 1910. — But it wouldn't stay 
dead. The joint-statehood movement in the Indian 
Territory and Oklahoma had carried ; New Mexico and 
Arizona alone were left out of the Union. And the very 
fact of being the only Territories left gave them a new 



THE BEGINNINGS OF STATEHOOD 24 1 

advantage by attracting the attention of the whole country 
to this glaring injustice due to partisan and sectional 
motives unworthy of a great nation. Public opinion was 
not long in getting results. The Enabling Act passed 
Congress and was signed by President Taft, June 20, 1910. 

I . THE FORMATION OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT 

286. The Constitutional Convention, 1910. — Under the 

provisions of this law the governor of the Territory called 
an election to be held on September 6 to choose members of 
a constitutional convention to meet in Santa Fe, October 3. 
The roll call showed that it was composed of seventy-one 
Republicans and twenty-nine Democrats. 

During the campaign there had been widespread dis- 
cussion of the initiative, referendum, recall, direct primary, 
and many other progressive ideas ; and many members 
of the convention had pledged themselves to work for the 
embodiment of these ideas in the new constitution. The 
convention, however, though it contained a large array of 
the ablest men in the State, did not prove to be a progres- 
sive body. The result of its work, which closed November 
21, was a " model of conservatism." The writing in of the 
progressive features of modern constitutions was left to 
the future. 

287. Ratification of the Constitution. — In the cam- 
paign that followed, many leading Democrats put forth 
a determined effort to have the constitution rejected so that 
the convention would have to reassemble and frame a new 
one nearer in accord with what they believed to be public 
opinion. On this issue, however, those who favored rati- 
fication had a very decided advantage. In the first place, 
the constitution was a Republican product, and the appeal 



242 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

to party loyalty would carry a large vote. Secondly, many 
people, knowing that the East was really opposed to state- 
hood in any form, and fearing that a rejection might lead 
to complications that would defeat statehood itself, voted 
for it on that ground. These considerations, rather than 
the merits of the constitution, explain its ratification by 
the large vote of 31,742 to 13,399. But in spite of these 
advantages, it was defeated in counties as widely scattered 
as Lincoln, Roosevelt, San Juan, and Sierra. It was 
approved by Congress and the President August 21, 191 1 ; 
and the people turned to the exciting events of the political 
campaign preceding the first State election November 
7,1911. 

288. The Blue-ballot Amendment. — One of the most 
convincing arguments advanced against the new constitu- 
tion was that the process of amendment had been made so 
complex and difficult that it was practically unamendable. 
The delay of Congress in approving the constitution gave 
time for the same argument to be used with telling effect 
in Washington. Hence Congress required the people to 
vote on a new amending clause to take the place of Article 
XIX of the original constitution, making the process of 
amendment simpler and easier. This new article, printed 
and submitted on blue paper, and hence known as the 
" blue-ballot amendment," was a decided improvement. 

289. The First State Election. — The campaign in the 
fall of 191 1 aroused the keenest interest throughout the 
Territory. A full ticket of State, county, and district 
officers was to be elected ; two representatives in Congress 
were to be chosen; and the legislature elected at that 
time would choose two members of the United States 
Senate. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF STATEHOOD 



243 



The Democrats, long out of power and poorly organized, 
had the advantage of not being responsible for any of the 
unpopular measures of recent years. The Republicans, 
steadily in power for fifteen years and well organized for 
the contest, lost their tactical advantage by having a 
record to explain and defend. This put the Republicans 
on the defensive in the campaign and at the same time 
furnished the Democrats their easiest point of attack. 
The latter, evidently appreciat- 
ing their advantage, nominated 
William C. McDonald, of 
Carrizozo, a substantial business 
man, especially well known 
among the cattle and sheep 
men. 

The Republicans fought-with 
the confidence that came from 
fifteen years of steady victories. 
The Democrats, strengthened 
by the assistance of several 
former Republicans now turned 
" Progressives," received the 
support of the Albuquerque Morning Journal, the largest 
newspaper in the State. On election day, November 7, 
McDonald was elected, and the " blue- ballot amendment " 
was ratified, the latter by a vote of 34,897 to 22,831. 

290. Admission of the State, January 6, 1912. — Step 
by step the process of transforming the Territory into a 
commonwealth had been completed. Promptly on January 
6, 1 91 2, as soon as the official count of the votes reached 
Washington, President Taft proclaimed New Mexico the 
forty-seventh State of the Union. 




Governor 

William C. McDonald 

1912-1916 



244 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

The new State, county, and district officers immediately 
took the oath of office and entered upon their official 
duties. When the elaborate inauguration ceremonies took 
place at Santa Fe, January 15, 191 2, and William J. Mills, the 
last Territorial governor, introduced his successor, William 
C. McDonald, first governor of the State, the Territory 
of New Mexico passed into history. 

V. POLITICAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 

291. Political Parties and Their Strength. — Although 
the Territory had been under Republican control since 
1896 (sec. 282), the strong Democratic vote for Delegate to 
Congress in the last years of the Territory raised some 
doubt about the permanence of that control. The con- 
stitutional convention of 1910, however, with seventy- 
one Republican delegates and only twenty-nine Democrats, 
seemed to remove any doubt on that point. Yet careful 
students of political affairs refused to be convinced. They 
pointed out the fact that this overwhelming majority 
was due to inequalities in the apportionment of delegates. 
But positive proof was lacking. 

The first State election furnished the necessary evidence 
for drawing surer conclusions. The constitutional con- 
vention had so districted the State for both houses of 
the legislature and for district judges and attorneys that 
these still showed Republican majorities. But the vote for 
congressmen, governor, and other State officers, in which 
the whole State was counted as a unit — the real index of 
party strength — told a different story. For Congress 
George Curry, Republican, and Harvey B. Fergusson, 
Democrat, were elected. For the governorship McDonald, 
Democrat, had beaten his opponent . by three thousand 



THE BEGINNINGS OF STATEHOOD 245 

majority (31,016 to 28,019), and the Democrats had also 
elected their candidates for lieutenant governor, secre- 
tary, treasurer, and superintendent of public instruction 
— five in all. The Republicans, on the other hand, had 
elected their candidates for attorney general, auditor, and 
commissioner of public lands, while the State Supreme 
Court and the corporation commission had each one 
Democrat and two Republicans. 

One thing was clear beyond any doubt : New Mexico 
was entering the period of statehood with Democrats and 
Republicans almost equally balanced and would have to 
wait for the future to determine the question of political 
control. The second State election (1916), though some- 
what more Republican in trend, still gave the governor- 
ship to the Democrats. The third (19 18) showed small 
Republican majorities all along the line. The fourth 
(1920) followed the Nation in a complete Republican 
victory. 

292. Growth of Population, 1850-1920. — The census of 
1850 showed a population of 61,547 ; and in the next decade 
a steady flow of immigration caused an increase of more 
than fifty per cent, to 93,516 in i860. Cutting off the 
Territory of Arizona caused a slight decrease to 91,874 in 
1870. The rise to 119,565 in 1880 showed the influence of 
the railroad which had entered the preceding year. That 
influence was particularly noticeable in the increase to 
160,282 in 1890 and 195,310 in 1900. Then came the great 
boom years of immigration at the beginning of the new 
century, carrying the population figure to 327,301 in 19 10 
■ — an increase of 67.6 per cent in ten years. The next 
decade, however, showed a slowing up. The rise to 360,247 
in 1920 amounted to but 10.1 per cent. 



246 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

293. Origin and Character of the Population. — This 
growing population is strikingly cosmopolitan: it comes 
from everywhere. When the railroads came, 90 per cent of 
the people had been born in the Territory. Then rapid 
immigration brought great changes. By 1910 only 53.6 
per cent had been born here, whereas 46.4 per cent had been 
born outside the State. Of that number 23,000 were 
foreigners, chiefly Mexicans, with a very small number 
from nearly every country of the world. The remaining 
39.3 per cent were Anglo-Americans born in other States 
of the Union. This last figure is significant. When it is 
remembered that a large part of the population born in 
the State is of Anglo-American parentage and that 39.3 
per cent of the total is made up of Americans not born in 
the State, it will be seen that by 19 10 the Anglo-Americans 
had become at least half the population of the State, 
probably more. And the proportion is rapidly increasing 
by immigration from other States. This conclusion is 
confirmed by the State's service record in the Great War. 
Out of a total of 17,157 New Mexicans in active service 
during the war only 5,437 or 31.66 per cent bore Spanish 
names, while 11,720 or 68.34 per cent were non-Spanish. 

More than half of this immigrant population comes 
from the States west of the Mississippi. Texas, Missouri, 
Illinois, Oklahoma, and Kansas furnish the largest numbers, 
in the order named, Texas contributing about three times 
as many as Missouri, her nearest competitor. 

VI. TROUBLE ON THE MEXICAN BORDER 

294. Villa's Raid on Columbus. — Stealing and cattle 
" rustling " back and forth across the Mexican boundary, 
with the resulting complaints from those who were getting 



THE BEGINNINGS OF STATEHOOD 



247 



the worse of it, was an old form of border trouble. Yet the 
United States had been on cordial terms with the Mexican 
government for half a century when the Madero fma-tha' 
ro) revolution broke out in Mexico in the spring of iqii. 
The overthrow of Porfirio Diaz (por-fe'ryo de'as), the auto- 
cratic president; the murder of Madero, the reformer; 




Villa Bandits in the State Penitentary 

and the accession of Huerta (wer'ta), the bloodthirsty 
military dictator, ushered in a period of unparalleled 
anarchy throughout the Mexican Republic. American fi- 
nancial interests in Mexico suffered heavily, many Ameri- 
cans were killed, and popular indignation in this country 
ran high. 

One of the worst of the bandit leaders infesting north- 
ern Mexico was the outlaw, Francisco (" Pancho ") Villa 
(ve'ya). With everything to gain and nothing to lose, he 



248 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



courted American intervention in order that he might ob- 
tain a following and win fame as a defender of his country 
against the foreign invader. In pursuance of this plan he 
led eight hundred or a thousand of his ragged rebel followers 
into the border town of Columbus, New Mexico, on the 
night of March 8, 1916. " shot up " the town, set fire to 
houses, and killed a number of people. The American 

border patrol under Colonel 
Herbert Slocum, commanding 
the 13th U. S. Cavalry, was 
caught unawares and a number 
of the men killed before they 
could get into action. Then Villa 
and his raiders fled. They were 
pursued by Major Frank Tomp- 
kins, and about twenty of their 
number were killed and some 
others captured. 

295. American Expedition into 
Mexico. — An American punitive 
expedition of six thousand men 
under Brigadier General John J. Pershing crossed the border 
at Columbus less than a week later (March 15) with orders 
to capture Villa dead or alive. Mexican cooperation, at first 
halfhearted, quickly became pure fiction. Evidence of this 
was furnished by the clash between Mexican and American 
troops at Parral (par-rat 7 ), April 12. Although the Ameri- 
can expedition had quickly penetrated four hundred miles 
into northern Mexico, Villa and his bandits, familiar with 
every foot of the country, found no difficulty in keeping out 
of danger ; and now our government had to choose between 
dropping the chase of Villa or beginning war with Mexico. 




Governor E. C. De Baca 
1917 



THE BEGINNINGS OF STATEHOOD 249 

It wisely chose to drop the chase; and Pershing's men, 
soon numbering twelve thousand in all, sat down to await 
developments. 

296. National Guard Called Out. — German intrigue in 
Mexico was widespread, and conditions of anarchy on the 
border continued to increase. Early in May Villista 
(ve-yes'ta) raids broke loose again, this time into Texas, 
and the President called out the National Guard for patrol 
duty on the whole Mexican border. The New Mexico 
guardsmen, nearly eight hundred strong, were the first to 
report at the mobilization camp at Columbus, New Mexico, 
May 12. 

The presence on the border of a hundred thousand khaki- 
clad young Americans eager for a fight furnished a whole- 
some object lesson to our southern neighbors. Villa's 
bands disappeared and the guardsmen spent the summer 
with nothing to do but to assimilate the necessary amount 
of military training to make them into an army of first- 
class fighting men. 

297. Withdrawal from Mexico. — This continued quiet 
along the border during the summer and fall (191 6) pre- 
pared the way for the withdrawal of the American troops 
from Mexico. By the end of January, 191 7, General 
Pershing and his entire force were moving leisurely back 
toward the border. Villa had not been caught, but the 
military demonstration along the international boundary 
had lessened the disorder to such an extent that on April 5 
the National Guard was mustered out of the service. 

VII. NEW MEXICO IN THE GREAT WAR 

298. Mobilization. — The guardsmen's training as 
soldiers, however, stood them in good stead a few months 



250 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



later; for hardly had General Pershing's expedition been 
withdrawn from Mexico when it became apparent to careful 
observers that the United States must soon enter the 
European War against the ruthless Central Empires 
(Germany and Austria). In fact Congress declared war 
on April 6, 191 7, the very next day after the National Guard 
had been mustered out ; and when President Wilson called 

the National Guard into Federal 
service (April 21), New Mexico 
had but eighty-eight members 
to answer — the forty-nine officers 
and thirty-nine enlisted men 
who had taken the oath for 
induction into the Federal 
service before the mustering out. 
The work of recruiting the 
National Guard of the State to 
full strength was so well done 
that by the middle of June 
thirteen hundred guardsmen 
were mobilized at Camp Fun- 
ston, the new training camp constructed at Albuquerque 
by the State Council of Defense. 

299. Special Session of the Legislature. — Five days 
after the President called the National Guard into Federal 
service Governor Lindsey called (April 26) the State legis- 
lature to meet in special session on May 1 to make pro- 
vision for the defense of the State and the assistance of 
the government in carrying on the war. It created a 
State Council of Defense to mobilize and organize the 
whole resources of the State, both moral and physical, for 
the effective prosecution of the war ; appropriated $750,000 




Governor W. E. Lindsey 
1917-1918 



THE BEGINNINGS OF STATEHOOD 25 1 

to be used for war purposes; and made provision for 
cooperation with the State Agricultural College in an 
organized effort to secure the conservation of food and 
the production of larger crops. 

This idea of conservation as a war measure played its 
part in rolling up the majority of more than sixteen thou- 
sand for the prohibition amendment to the State con- 
stitution that fall (November 6, 191 7). 

300. The Guardsmen Go ^_|^^^«m 
Overseas. — InSeptember(i9i7), 
after three months of intensive 
training in camp at Albuquer- 
que, the first detachment of H ^^^ 
New Mexico boys, popularly 
known as " Battery A" (of the 
146th artillery), left for Camp RHk 
Greene, North Carolina. In 
October the others went to W*^\ 

Camp Kearny, California. For- % 

tune smiled on Battery A. ■■ ^^^ ■'■•* 

Although two or three hundred Colonel E. C. Abbott 
individual New Mexicans had been able to get to Europe 
ahead of it, Battery A, the first distinctively New Mexican 
unit to get across, was in France before the close of the 
year, ready to play a heroic part at the beginning of the 
Great Spring Drive and to fire the opening guns at Chateau- 
Thierry (sha-to' tye-re'). The other New Mexico guards- 
men, who were sent first to Camp Kearny, California, 
though not sent overseas so soon, were nearly all in France 
before the signing of the armistice, either under Colonel E. 
C. Abbott, as part of the Fortieth Division of General Per- 
shing's army or as replacements assigned to other divisions. 



252 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



301. The Great Spring Drive, 1918. — The year 1918 
opened in gloom. The Russians were completely out of the 
war. Germany was moving her great eastern army to the 
western front to attack the British and French with over- 
whelming numbers in a supreme effort to separate them 
and crush them one at a time before the Americans could get 
" over there " in sufficient numbers to turn the tide of 

victory. The drive opened 
March 21 ; by the twenty- 
eighth the English front was 
broken; and for three months 
the German hordes moved for- 
ward according to schedule. We 
read our morning paper with 
bated breath, while dismay and 
indignation spurred on every 
American war activity. Amer- 
ican forces landed in France in 
increasing thousands every 
month. 

— By midsummer more than a 
million fresh American troops were on the western front to 
add their weight to the forces of the weary British and 
French fighters. On June 2, 1918, the American Marine 
Corps began its famous fight to check the German drive 
toward Paris at Chateau-Thierry — and did it. For a solid 
month they did the impossible in clearing Belleau (bel-lo') 
Wood of German machine gun nests. The fighting quali- 
ties of the Americans no longer needed proof. A new hour 
was about to strike — and the German armies knew it. 

It struck July 18, when General Foch began the allied 
offensive along the whole front from Chateau-Thierry on 




Colonel 
Charles M. deBremone 

302. The Tide Turns. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF STATEHOOD 



253 




the Marne (mam) to the river Aisne (an). The great 
victory in this Second Battle of the Marne (July 18-21) 
removed the German threat from Paris. September 12-13 
General Pershing wiped out the St. Mihiel (san me-yeT) 
salient and helped pave the way for smashing the famous 
Hindenburg Line. The Germans' " On to Paris " was now 
to become " Off for Berlin." 

303. New Mexicans at the Front. — Though Battery A 
of the New Mexico National 
Guard, a machine gun unit of 
about a hundred and ninety men 
under Captain Charles M. 
deBremond, was the first dis- 
tinctively New Mexican organ- 
ization to reach France, 
thousands more followed in the 
spring and summer of 1918, not 
as separate units, but scattered 
throughout the new National 
Army. In every branch of 
the service they won distinc- 
tion. The first American soldiers 
under an American officer to capture German prisoners 
were led by Captain Joseph Quesenberry, of Las Cruces, 
a former student in the State Agricultural College and 
one of the first New Mexicans to reach Europe. Later 
as a major in the Great Spring Drive he gave his life for 
freedom. 

At Chateau-Thierry, Belleau Wood, the Second Battle 
of the Marne, St. Mihiel, and a hundred other bloody 
fields New Mexican boys won honor for themselves and 
glory for their State. Sons of the Spanish conquerors and 



Major 
Joseph Quesenberry 



254 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



of American pioneers fought side by side in the common 
cause, spurred on by the same high patriotism, and aided 
by a hundred patriotic New Mexican Indians formerly 
the common enemy of both. 

304. Numbers in Service. — To all branches of 
the service the State contributed 17,157 men, a larger 
number in proportion to population than the average for 

the whole country. In the 
number of men contributed to 
the volunteer National Guard 
in proportion to population, 
New Mexico stood fifth among 
all the American States. Yet 
nothing else gives so adequate 
an idea of the spirit of the 
people as the fact that of the 
17,157 New Mexicans in active 
service during the war only 
8,505 were in the draft, and 
many of these were actually 
volunteers. All the rest, more 
than fifty per cent, were volunteers untouched by the 
draft. Of the total, 5,437 (31.66 per cent) were men of 
Spanish names; 11,720 (68.34 per cent), non-Spanish. 

305. Civilian War Work. — Those who could not go to 
the front did their part patriotically at home. Every 
organization and institution, political, social, religious, 
and educational, bent its energies to the all-absorbing 
task of winning the war. They backed the Liberty Loans, 
supported the Y. M. C. A. and Knights of Columbus, 
worked for the Red Cross, and gave freely of both time and 
money to every undertaking for enlarging the numbers, im- 




GOVERNOR 

O. A. Labrazolo, 1919-1920 



THE BEGINNINGS OF STATEHOOD 



255 



proving the morale, and strengthening the fighting qualities 
of the American army. 

Units of the Students' Army Training Corps were estab- 
lished at the University, the Agricultural College, and the 
Military Institute to train officers for the army. The 
whole curriculum in each of these institutions was quickly 
overhauled and readjusted to 
meet war conditions. Technical 
training in mechanical and 
engineering lines was given by 
the Agricultural College, at 
the request of the War Depart- 
ment, to hundreds of enlisted 
men from New Mexico and 
other States. 

306. Financial Support. — 
Every call for money to be 
used by the great war organiza- 
tions was answered with un- 
bounded generosity. The awful 
spring of 191 8, when the Ger- 
mans were driving everything before them and the cause 
of freedom was in its darkest hour, found in almost every 
New Mexican home the grim determination to make any 
sacrifice necessary to defeat the despotic Central Empires. 
In May and June (1918) the Y. M. C. A. campaign for 
$30,000 to be used among the men on the European battle 
front easily secured $60,600. In July the Salvation Army 
asked for $18,000 and got $24,600. Then came the United 
War Work drive in September for $204,000, answered by 
subscriptions totaling $286,000. 

Side by side with this generous and self-sacrificing 




Governor 
Merritt C. Mechem 
1921- 



256 



THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 



giving in support of the great war organizations went an 
equal loyalty and enthusiasm in lending financial support 
to the government for carrying on the war. In every 
Liberty Loan campaign during the war New Mexico went 
triumphantly " over the top." These official figures for 
the State tell their own eloquent story : 



Liberty Loan 


Date 


Quota 


Subscription 


First 
Second 
Third 
Fourth 


May, 1917 
October, 191 7 
April, 19 1 8 
October, 1918 


$1,375,400 
3,095,700 
3,658,500 
3,243,300 


$1,834,600 
3,945,750 
6,001,750 
6,170,300 



A further subscription of $1,873,100 to the Victory Loan 
in April (191 9) after the signing of the armistice carries 
New Mexico's total to the magnificent sum of $19,825,500. 
307. Looking Forward. — In the great National crisis 
New Mexicans had been called on to stand up and be 
counted. They had acquitted themselves with honor. 
The courage, independence, and resourcefulness that had 
been bred in them through generations of pioneering on the 
fringe of civilization made them daring leaders and dogged 
fighters. Returning to the pursuits of civil life after the 
great experience and the quickening influences of the 
struggle, they are new men looking forward to a bigger and 
better day. New social energies have been set in motion 
throughout the whole population that will be mighty forces 
in the building of a great and progressive State. New 
Mexico is indeed the Land of To-morrow. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF STATEHOOD 257 

GENERAL READINGS 

L. B. Prince, A Concise History of New Mexico, 203-219, 233-243. 
B. M. Read, Illustrated History of New Mexico, 613-644. 
R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, II, 402- 
406, 575-606; V, 87-420. 

J. H. Vaughan, History of Education in New Mexico, Chapters VIII, IX. 

SPECIAL TOPICS 

1. The Statehood Movement. L. B. Prince, New Mexico's Struggle 
for Statehood, 24-128. 

2. The Adoption of the Constitution. Proceedings of the Constitu- 
tional Convention (Santa Fe, 19 10) ; Constitution for the Proposed State of 
New Mexico (Hearings by the House Committee on Territories, Washington, 
1911). 

3. The Great War. The New Mexico Blue Book, 1919, 63-114. 

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Why has the name "New Mexico" always been somewhat unpopular 
in the East? Why was the East opposed to statehood? 

2. How and when did the "Elkins handshake" defeat statehood? Why 
were the Southerners favorable to New Mexico? 

3. What effect did the coming of the railroads have on the statehood 
movement? Why? Why was the constitution of 1889 not ratified? 

4. Give an account of New Mexico's part in the Spani h-A merican War. 
Who were the Rough Riders? 

5. W'hat effect did the war have on the statehood movement? Why? 
What other influences were favorable ? 

6. W T hy was joint statehood with Arizona proposed? Why did it fail? 
When was the Enabling Act (Statehood Bill) passed? 

7. How many members were in the constitutional convention? How 
were they divided by parties? Was the convention progressive or con- 
servative? 

8. What arguments were advanced against the ratification of the con- 
stitution? Why was it ratified by a large vote? What was the "blue- 
ballot amendment"? 

9. Give an account of the first State election. What advantages did 
the Democrats have? The Republicans? Who won? Why? 

10. When did New Mexico become a State? Who was the first gov- 
ernor? 

11. Is the State Democratic or Republican? See sections 282, 291. 

12. In what periods since 1850 has population grown most rapidly? 
Least rapidly? Why? 



258 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 

13. Give an account of political conditions in Mexico after 191 1; the 
Columbus Raid and the / merican expedition into Mexico. Why was 
the expedition withdrawn without accomplishing its full purpose? 

14. What was the effect of calling out the National Guard? 

15. Give an account of New Mexico's preparations when the United 
States entered the Great W T ar. Why was a special session of the legisla- 
ture called? 

16. Tell about the moving of the New Mexico troops overseas and their 
work in checking the Great Spring Drive of 1918. 

17. Who led the American troops that captured the first German pris- 
oners? 

18. How many New Mexicans were in service during the war? What 
part did the people at home take? What did the State educational in- 
stitutions do? 

19. What showing did the State make in Liberty Loans and other war 
funds? 



PART II 
THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE STATE CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT 

308. Federal and State Government. — We live under 
two great systems of government. The Federal govern- 
ment deals with foreign affairs and with those large prob- 
lems of home affairs which are of sufficient importance 
to the whole people that they should be under uniform laws 
throughout the country. The State governments have 
for their field the great multitude of everyday affairs, 
vitally important to the public welfare, but not so general 
in nature as to call for uniformity throughout the country. 
Under the authority of the State falls the whole system 
of local government in counties, cities, towns, and villages. 
It is with the field of State government that this book deals. 

309. The Importance of State- Government. — To the 
average citizen the Federal government seems very im- 
portant and the State government rather unimportant. 
That is because the Federal government is very large and 
powerful and always over us whether we are in Maine or 
California or Hawaii ; whereas the government of any 
one State extends over a very small area and ceases to 
affect us as soon as we pass out of the State. Such an 
impression, however, is incorrect ; and a study of the facts 
will convince any one of' the greater importance of the State 
government in our daily life and business affairs. A com- 
plete list of the powers exercised by the government of New 
Mexico would be a catalog of all our social and business 

261 



262 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

relationships. State laws regulate marriage and divorce, 
the legal relations of husband and wife and of parents and 
children; they control the relations of employer and em- 
ployee, of principal and agent ; they fix contract relations 
and regulate such important subjects as partnerships, debts, 
credit, and insurance; they regulate the ownership, use, 
and sale of property ; they control voting, civil and religious 
rights, and public education; they define crime and pro- 
vide for its punishment, except only those crimes that 
are committed against the United States. In short, the 
laws of New Mexico regulate the chief affairs of every 
citizen of the State from the time they register his birth or 
appoint his guardian until they probate his will or divide 
up his estate fairly among his heirs. 

With the principles of this important State government 
every young citizen should become familiar as a part of 
his necessary training for the intelligent exercise of the 
duties of citizenship 

310. Admission of .pie State. — The policy of making 
certain subjects a matter of compact between the United 
States and the new State, originating in the Ordinance of 
1784, drawn by Jefferson, for the government of western 
Territories, became effective in the Northwest Ordinance 
of 1787 and has continued through later American history. 
In accordance with that long-established custom, the 
Enabling Act of 1910 required the new State to make in its 
constitution a compact with the United States, the most 
important items of which were: (1) to grant complete 
religious toleration and prohibit polygamy, (2) not to tax 
the property of non-residents higher than the property 
of residents nor to tax property of the Federal government 
at all, (3) to surrender all public lands in the State to the 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT 263 

United States, and (4) to accept the conditions on which 
all grants of public lands to the State had been made. 

311. The State Constitution. — Belief in a written 
constitution is an Anglo-Saxon tradition that goes far back 
in history. A constitution is a rigid document that can be 
changed, not by the government, but only by the people 
who made it, and is, therefore, the safeguard of the people's 
rights and liberties. It is the great fundamental law 
passed by all the people having the right to vote ; and the 
whole government — even the legislature — must obey its 
commands. 

The constitution of New Mexico, ratified January 21, 
1 91 1, and effective from January 6, 191 2, falls logically 
into six divisions : — 

1. The Preamble and enacting clause, in these words: 
" We, the people of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God 
for the blessings of liberty, in order to secure the advantages 
of a State government, do ordain and establish this con- 
stitution." 

2. The Bill of Rights (Art. II), enumerating a long 
list of the fundamental rights of citizens, with which even 
the government may not interfere. 

3. The Organization of the Government as defined in the 
Articles on the Distribution of Powers (Art. Ill), the 
Legislative Department (Art. IV), the Executive Depart- 
ment (Art. V), and the Judicial Department (Art. VI). 

4. A long list of Miscellaneous Provisions, many of 
them more like ordinary statute law than constitutional 
provisions: Name and Boundaries (Art. I), Elective 
Franchise (Art. VII), Taxation and Revenue (Art. VIII), 
State, County, and Municipal Indebtedness (Art. IX), 
County and Municipal Corporations (Art. X), Other 



264 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

Corporations (Art. XI), Education (Art. XII), Public 
Lands (Art. XIII), Public Institutions (Art. XIV), Agri- 
culture and Conservation (Art. XV), Irrigation and Water 
Rights (Art. XVI), Mines and Mining (Art. XVII), Militia 
(Art. XVIII), and Miscellaneous (Art. XX). 

5. The Compact with the United States (Art. XXI) 
and the Schedule (Art. XXII), providing for the ratifica- 
tion of the constitution and making temporary arrange- 
ments for the Territorial government to go out and the 
new State government to take over its functions. 

6. Provision for Amendments (Art. XIX). 

312. How the Constitution May Be Amended. — No 
constitution is likely to meet the changing conditions of 
a State for any long period of time without some modifica- 
tions. If it is to last very long, there must be some orderly 
method provided for changing it. This is particularly 
true where the constitution contains so many details. 

Amendments to the State constitution may be proposed 
at any regular session of the legislature by a majority of 
the whole number of members elected to each house. They 
must then be voted on at the next general election or at 
a special election held not less than six months after adjourn- 
ment of the legislature, as the legislature may provide. If a 
proposed amendment is ratified by a majority of the votes 
cast on it, it becomes a part of the constitution. 

There are two important exceptions to this rule : (1) The^ 
provisions of the constitution guaranteeing equality of 
educational opportunity to Spanish-speaking children (Art. 
XII, Sees. 8, 10) and equality of political rights to persons 
of Spanish speech (Art. VII, Sees. 1,3) may be amended 
only if the amendment is submitted by a three-fourths 
vote of the total membership of each house of the legis- 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT 265 

lature and ratified by three-fourths of the total vote 
of the State and by two-thirds of the total vote in every 
county. (2) The amending clause itself (Art. XIX, Sec. 1) 
may be changed only by a general constitutional conven- 
tion called to revise the constitution. 

313. Revising the Constitution. — This process of 
amendment applies only to changing particular details, an 
article here or a section there. But the time may come 
when the people will want to revise the whole document or 
adopt a new one in its place. Such a revision can be 
made only by a new constitutional convention. The prop- 
osition to call a convention at any time prior to 1946 
must be agreed to by three-fourths of the total member- 
ship of each house of the legislature and approved by a 
majority of the votes cast on the question at the next gen- 
eral election. After 1946 the proposition may be submitted 
by a two-thirds majority in each house. 

If the required majority of the voters approve the proposi- 
tion, the next regular session of the legislature will pro- 
vide for calling a constitutional convention of at least 
as many delegates as there are members of the house of 
representatives (forty-nine). Any revision made by this 
convention or new constitution adopted by it will have no 
force or effect until submitted to a popular vote and ratified 
by the people. 

REFERENCES 

Constitution of New Mexico. 

Constitution of the United States. 

J. Q. Dealey, Growth of American State Constitutions, 1-115, 139-149, 
254-269. 

A. N. Holcombe, State Government in the United States, 3-139, 394- 
400. 

W. B. Munro, The Government of the United States, 372-414. 



266 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

P. S. Reinsch, Readings on American State Government, 435-464. 
Standard textbooks on American Government should be used for ref- 
erence on all topics discussed in this and the following chapters. 

QUESTION FOR DEBATE 

Resolved, That we should study our State Government more thoroughly 
even than the United States Government. 

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT 

1. Under what two systems of government do we live? With what 
problems does each deal? 

2. When was New Mexico admitted into the Union? What important 
matters did the Enabling Act require New Mexico to include in its con- 
stitution as a compact with the United States? 

3. Why does a State need a written constitution? What are the natural 
divisions of the constitution of New Mexico ? 

4. How may the constitution be amended ? In what respects is it very 
difficult ever to change it? How may it be revised? 



CHAPTER XVII 
CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS 

314. The Constitution of the United States. — The 

Federal Constitution prohibits either Congress or the State 
legislature from (i) depriving us of our freedom except as 
a punishment for crime, (2) passing a bill of attainder 
against us or punishing us under an ex post facto law, or 
(3) depriving us of life, liberty, or property without due 
process of law. It also prohibits the State from denying 
to any one equal protection under the law. 

The first ten Amendments to the Federal Constitution 
are often called the Federal Bill of Rights because they 
restrict the powers of Congress in so many ways in order 
to protect the people against governmental interference. 
They forbid Congress to interfere with religious freedom 
or with freedom of speech, of the press, or of assembly. 
" Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." 
No person may be punished for crime except after a fair 
trial by a jury of the county or district. Every one shall be 
free from unreasonable searches and seizures. 

These are priceless rights of freedom ; but we must not 
forget that the limitations expressed in these first ten 
amendments to the Constitution apply only to the power of 
Congress and do not in any way restrict the action of the 
State legislatures. The legislature of New Mexico might 
prohibit Catholic and Protestant worship and make Mor- 

267 



268 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

monism the State religion supported at public expense 
without violating the Constitution of the United States 
— even the First Amendment. 

315. The Bill of Rights. — For this reason New Mexico 
has written into her constitution a long and detailed Bill 
of Rights for the protection of the people in both their 
civil and political rights against interference by even 
the legislature or State officers. The right to vote and 
the right to hold office are political rights. All our other 
rights are civil rights. 

i. There shall be complete freedom of speech, of the 
press, of assemblage (public meeting), of religion; and 
no religion shall be given any legal preference over another. 

2. The people shall be free from imprisonment for debt, 
from unreasonable searches and seizures or the use of general 
search warrants, and from punishment by bill of attainder 
or under an ex post facto law. 

3. No one shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property 
without due process of law, that is, without a fair trial in 
open court according to the laws of the State and Nation. 

4. Persons accused of crime must have the privilege of 
the writ of habeas corpus as a means of obtaining a pre- 
liminary hearing in court in order to secure their freedom 
or to get out of prison on bail until their trial, unless the 
evidence tends to indicate that they have committed a 
capital crime (one punishable with death). If they are 
bailed out, the amount of their bail bond fixed by the 
court must not be excessive. 

5. And when the prisoner finally comes into court to 
be tried, the State constitution guarantees him a fair and 
impartial trial before a jury from the county or district 
in which the offense was committed. He must have the 



CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS 269 

right to " defend himself in person, and by counsel " 
(attorneys), and cannot be compelled to give evidence 
against himself. Unless the jury is convinced of his 
guilt, he goes free; but if he is convicted (found guilty), 
no " excessive fines [shall be] imposed, nor cruel and un- 
usual punishments inflicted " upon him. That is, his 
punishment must bear a reasonable relation to his offense. 

6. Finally, as a protection to the individual against the 
severest punishment in times of disturbance and intense 
passion, the constitution goes on to define specifically 
the only offenses which may be punished as treason: 
" Treason against the State shall consist only in levying 
war against it, adhering to its enemies, or giving them aid 
and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason 
unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt 
act, or on confession in open court." 

7. This is a very wide field of civil liberty under law, 
which the constitution has staked off for us ; but the con- 
stitution (Art. II, Sec. 8, Art. VII, Sees. 1, 3) goes further 
and guarantees our most precious political rights against 
any interference by the legislature, and makes any amend- 
ment of these provisions practically impossible. " All 
elections shall be free and open, and no power, civil or 
military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free 
exercise of the right of suffrage" (Art. II, Sec. 8.) "The 
right of any citizen of the State to vote, hold office, or sit on 
juries, shall never be restricted, abridged, or impaired on 
account of religion, race, language or color, or inability 
to speak, read, or write the English or Spanish languages." 
(Art. VII, Sec. 3.) 

316. Freedom of Speech. — Some of the words and 
phrases in the Bill of Rights are unfamiliar terms or terms 



270 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

used with special meanings. We must, therefore, try to 
get a correct understanding of them. 

Freedom of speech and the press does not mean that we 
may say anything we please about other people, but that we 
may freely discuss public questions, policies of government, 
the acts of public officials, the record of those who seek to 
be public officials, and the actions of any other individuals 
or groups of individuals, provided always that we do it 
without malice and with the public interest in view. Of 
course, if we speak falsely and maliciously about others, 
we are violating the law against slander ; if we publish 
those same falsehoods, we are violating the law against 
libel ; and the constitution will not then save us from 
punishment. 

317. Freedom of Assembly. — Nor does the right of the 
people to assemble for lawful purposes mean that any 
number of people may assemble anywhere and any time 
they please. A gathering of a thousand people on a busy 
street corner in Albuquerque during working hours to hear 
some soap-box orator discuss the latest vagaries of socialism 
might be entirely harmless in itself ; but it would certainly 
obstruct traffic, and the police might require the crowd to 
scatter or move to some vacant lot, so that busy people 
might go about their business without hindrance. 

318. Religious Freedom. — Every citizen has complete 
freedom of religious opinion and religious worship, with 
which the State legislature cannot interfere ; nor may the 
State legislature " establish " any religion or give any 
preference to one religious organization over another. This 
does not mean that we may do anything we please in the 
name of religion. It does not grant freedom for all sorts of 
social practices. The Mormon may freely profess his creed 



CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS 271 

and worship in his own fashion, but he must not violate the 
law against bigamy by marrying two wives. 

319. Unreasonable Searches and Seizures. — In the 
years before the American Revolution the colonists had 
much trouble with the English kings about issuing general 
search warrants (called " writs of assistance "), which en- 
abled the kings' officers to search anywhere for anything. 
That opened the way for abusing the writ by " unreasonable 
searches and seizures," and led to the development in 
American law of the principle that every search warrant 
must be a special warrant naming a particular place to be 
searched and particular things to be searched for. This 
is the protection which the State constitution guarantees. 

320. Bill of Attainder. — It was a common custom long 
ago for legislatures to pass a special act now and then 
providing for the punishment (usually with death) of some 
particularly hated political opponent, who had committed 
no crime for which he could be convicted under the law in 
open court. Such a legislative act providing for punish- 
ment without trial was called a bill of attainder. The Con- 
stitution of the United States forbids either Congress cr 
the States to pass a bill of attainder ; and the State con- 
stitution repeats the prohibition. 

321. Ex Posto Facto Laws. — An ex post facto law is 
a law applying to acts done before the law was passed, in 
such way as (a) to prescribe a punishment for an act which 
was not punishable at the time it was committed, or (b) to 
increase the punishment for the offense, or (c) to make 
it easier to convict the accused person. It applies only 
to criminal cases, not to civil actions. 

322. Liberty under Law. — We have learned from the 
study of our civil rights, such as freedom of speech, freedom 



272 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

of the press, freedom of assemblage, freedom of religion, 
and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, that 
the very corner stone of free government is liberty under law. 
The purpose of the Bill of Rights is to insure every in- 
dividual the largest and freest opportunity for his own de- 
velopment and happiness so long as he does not interfere 
with the rights, liberties, and happiness of others. 

REFERENCES 

Constitution of New Mexico, Art. II, the Bill of Rights; Art. VII, 
Elective Franchise ; Art. XII, Education. 

Constitution of the United States, Art. I, Sees. 9, 10; Amendments 
I-X, XIII-XV, XVII, XIX. 

J. Q. Dealey, Growth of the American State Constitutions, 1 16-138, 150- 
159, 270-284. 

W. B. Mtinro, The Government of the United States, 71-87, 288-298. 

QUESTION FOR DEBATE 

Resolved, That our civil rights are more important than our political 
rights. 

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT 

1. How does the Federal Constitution protect us from Congress and the 
State legislatures? Why were the first ten amendments added to the 
Constitution? 

2. Why does each State have a Bill of Rights? What rights are secured 
to us by the New Mexico Bill of Rights ? How is treason defined ? 

3. What is the meaning of the term "freedom of speech " ? May people 
assemble for lawful purposes any time and anywhere they please? Why? 
Why may not the Mormon marry two wives ? 

4. What were "writs of assistance"? If you believed that some man 
had stolen some of your property, how could you have him searched ? 

5. What is a bill of attainder? 

6. What is the difference between civil and criminal cases? To which 
does the ex post facto law apply? What is an ex post facto law? 

7. In our free government why may we not do as we please? 



I 



CHAPTER XVIII 
NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS 

323. The Power of the People. — " All political power 
is vested in and derived from the people ; all government 
of right originates with the people, is founded upon their 
will, and is instituted solely for their good." 

This statement of the popular basis of free government, 
taken from the Bill of Rights in the State constitution, 
makes it clear that the will of the people as expressed at 
elections is the supreme power in the State, subject only 
to the Constitution of the United States. The people may 
change the qualifications for voting, change the constitu- 
tion, or even abolish it and put a new one in its place. 

324. Nominations. — The process of selecting public 
officials goes through two separate and distinct stages — 
nomination and election. 

The nomination of candidates for office is a party affair, 
riot yet regulated by the laws of the State, but conducted 
according to certain fairly well-defined customary rules 
of procedure followed by each political party. In general 
it is somewhat after the following fashion. The leaders 
of a party in each precinct hold a caucus in the latter part 
of the summer before the November elections and choose 
delegates to a county convention. The county convention 
composed of these precinct delegates selects delegates to 
the State convention of the party. The State convention 
adopts a " platform," setting forth the party principles 

273 



274 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

and the issues of the coming campaign, praising its own 
achievements and denouncing the record of the opposing 
party, and nominates the party ticket of candidates for 
State and National offices. A few weeks later another 
convention in each county nominates its " ticket " of county 
officers and members of the legislature. 

Sometimes these platforms contain " planks " intended 
especially to catch a few doubtful voters, but which the 
party has no intention of living up to — " planks " which 
some one has said are made to climb in on, but not to stand 
on when once in office. Such practices deserve the severest 
punishment the voters can give. 

In presidential election years the process is slightly 
different. County and State caucuses and conventions 
are held in the spring with but little business except to 
take stock of the party's condition and prospects and to 
select delegates to the National convention. Then in the 
fall, when the National convention is over, new conventions 
meet to nominate county, State, and district candidates. 

Delegates to district conventions for the nomination 
of district judges, district attorneys, and members of the 
legislature from districts including more than one county 
are selected in the same way as delegates to the State con- 
vention. 

325. The Campaign. — From the nominating conven- 
tions until election day is the exciting period of the year. 
The State convention of each party puts the financing and 
management of its campaign in the hands of a State central 
committee under the leadership of a chairman who becomes 
its active manager. He begins a " campaign of education " 
to show why all good citizens should support the principles 
and candidates of his party. He arranges speaking tours 



NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS 275 

by his candidates and other " spellbinders " of the party, 
sends party literature broadcast over the State, and or- 
ganizes an elaborate system of publicity through the daily 
and weekly newspapers. His arguments are addressed 
primarily to the independent voters, for he well knows 
that the only argument necessary for those who " vote it 
straight " is a sufficient appeal to their prejudices to get 
them to the polls on election day. 

326. Campaign Expenses. — There are legitimate uses 
for considerable sums of money to carry on a proper cam- 
paign of publicity and information concerning candidates 
and party issues ; but unfortunately some unscrupulous 
politicians and business interests are ready to spend money 
dishonestly in order to get into office or to get their friends 
in. To discourage this abuse and keep elections as clean 
as possible the laws of the State forbid any candidate to 
contribute or spend for campaign purposes (except his own 
traveling expenses) more than ten per cent of the annual 
salary of the office he is seeking, and require him to hie a 
sworn statement of his campaign expenses ten days before 
the election. Then within thirty days after the election 
the treasurer of every political committee, State, county, 
or otherwise, must file with the county clerk a complete 
statement of all funds received and paid out by him during 
the campaign. 

327. The Independent Voter. — In some counties of 
the State the parties are so uneven in strength that the 
hidebound partisan who votes a " straight ticket " controls 
in every election. This is notably true in some of the 
Democratic counties on the east side and of the Republi- 
can counties of the north and west. But fortunately in 
the State as a whole the voting strength of the two great 



276 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

parties is so evenly divided that the independent voter 
generally holds the balance of power. Every good citizen 
should study carefully the issues in each election and the 
personal record of each candidate in order that he may 
serve the State by voting intelligently; for the casting 
of an honest and intelligent ballot is not only a high priv- 
ilege, but one of the sacred duties of good citizenship. 
Good citizens have no moral right to be slackers and stay 
away from the polls and allow the most unscrupulous 
elements of society to control the goverpment of the State. 

328. The Election. — A general election is held on 
Tuesday after the first Monday in November of every 
even-numbered year. Sixty days before each general 
election the county commissioners appoint a registration 
board of three members (not more than two from the same 
political party) in each precinct in the county to " register " 
or make an official list of the qualified voters in the precinct 
or election district. This registration of voters is a wise 
precaution against dishonest persons voting several times 
in different precincts. 

The commissioners also appoint judges of election in the 
same way; and the county clerk furnishes ballot boxes, 
poll books, and printed tickets for all parties at county 
expense. On election day the polls are open from nine 
o'clock in the morning until six in the afternoon. During 
that time the party workers devote their energies to getting 
out the fullest possible vote. 

When the voting is finished, the election officers count 
the vote of the precinct and transmit the result, with the 
ballot box and one poll book, to the county clerk, and send 
a similar report, with the other poll book, to the secretary 
of state at Santa Fe. The county commissioners act as a 



NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS 277 

county canvassing board and in turn report the vote of the 
whole county for all district, State, and National officers 
to the State canvassing board at Santa Fe, composed of the 
governor, the secretary of state, and the chief justice of the 
State Supreme Court. This board makes the official count 
and anounces the result for the State. 

329. United States Senators, Congressmen, and Presi- 
dential Electors. — United States senators, representatives 
in Congress, and presidential electors are nominated and 
chosen at the general elections in exactly the same manner 
as State officers. In case of a vacancy in our representa- 
tion in the United States Senate the governor fills it by 
appointment until the next election, when a senator will be 
chosen for the unexpired term. The presidential electors 
meet in Santa Fe and cast their ballots for President of the 
United States on the second Monday in January after 
their election. 

A vacancy in this " electoral college " is filled by a 
person chosen by the remaining members. If they fail to 
do it, the governor appoints an elector nominated by the 
chairman of the State central committee of the party to 
which the absent member belonged. 

Congressmen are chosen at every general election. 
Presidential electors are chosen every four years — in the 
years exactly divisible by four. United States senators 
with six-year terms are chosen at the general election in 
November before a senator's term expires in March. 

330. The Plurality Rule. — The law provides that in 
all elections the person having the highest number of 
votes (a plurality) for a given office shall be declared 
elected. This plurality rule avoids the failure of election 
and consequent necessity for a new election that might 



278 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

frequently occur when there are more than two candidates 
for the same office and the vote is close, if an absolute 
majority were necessary to elect. Only in case of a tie 
can there be a failure to elect ; and then if it is a State office, 
the two houses of the legislature sitting together will elect 
by joint ballot one of the candidates having the highest 
number of votes. 

331. Who May Vote. — The State makes no distinction 
of race, language, or religion. Every citizen of the United 
States twenty-one years of age, who has resided in the 
State twelve months, in the county ninety days, and in the 
precinct where he wishes to vote thirty days next preceding 
the election may vote at any and all elections held under 
the laws of the State. 

332. Who May Not Vote. — The privilege of a voice in 
our government is a premium set on intelligence and good 
citizenship. It is, therefore, denied to idiots, insane 
persons, and persons convicted of a felonious or infamous 
crime, unless restored to political rights. Indians not 
taxed are also excluded — the only case of race distinction 
in the qualifications for voting. 

Then there is the whole class of people who are not 
citizens of the United States who have no right to any voice 
in our government — and never should have unless they 
love our country enough to become citizens and swear 
allegiance to its laws and government. But they can 
remove their disqualification by becoming naturalized 
citizens. Even persons who have served terms in the 
penitentiary may be restored to full political rights by 
special action of the governor. 

333. Citizenship. — "All persons born or naturalized in 
the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, 



NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS 279 

are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein 
they reside." 

Most of the people living in the State are citizens of 
the United States by birth. Those who are not citizens 
by birth may become citizens by naturalization. To do 
this they must (1) go before a State district court or a 
Federal court and renounce allegiance to the country from 
which they came and declare their intention to become 
American citizens ; and (2) at least two years later go into 
court again, swear allegiance to the United States, and 
secure full citizenship. This second step cannot be taken 
until they have been residents of the United States at least 
five years. Orientals (Chinese, Japanese, and some others) 
cannot be naturalized. 

Every citizen of the United States who resides in New 
Mexico is a citizen of the State. 

334. Woman Suffrage. — Under the State constitution 
women were allowed to vote only in school elections, but 
not at general elections ; and the franchise provisions 
(Art. VII, Sees. 1, 3) were made so nearly impossible of 
amendment that full woman suffrage could hardly have 
been hoped for by State action in the next generation. All 
this, however, has been changed by the Nineteenth Amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the United States (1920) 
granting to women the right to vote on terms of entire 
equality with men. This, and this only, gives us " uni- 
versal suffrage." 

REFERENCES 

Constitution of New Mexico, Art. VII, Elective Franchise. 
Platforms of the different parties in recent State and National elec- 
tions. 

Sample ballots used by the different parties in your county. 



280 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

New Mexico Statutes Annotated (Code) of 191 5, Chapter XXXII, 
Elections ; Session Laws of later dates. 

A. N. Holcombe, State Government in the United States, 143-239. 

W. B. Munro, The Government of the United States, 473-488. 

P. S. Reinsch, Readings on American State Government, 364-434. 

QUESTION FOR DEBATE 

Resolved, That the independent voter is a more valuable citizen than- the 
man who "votes it straight." 

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT 

1. How is the nomination of candidates for office carried on? Is it 
always the same? 

2. Into whose hands is the campaign placed? What are his principal 
duties? 

3. How are campaign expenses regulated in New Mexico? 

4. When is the general election held? How is it carried on? 

5. Who compose the State canvassing board ? What is its duty? 

6. How are United States senators, representatives, and presidential 
electors chosen? 

7. What is the difference between a majority and a plurality? 

8. Who may vote in New Mexico ? Who is barred from voting? May 
aliens vote? Why? 

9. When and how did the women of New Mexico obtain the right to 
vote? 



CHAPTER XIX 
THE STATE LEGISLATURE 

335. Composition and Sessions. — The State legislature 
is composed of the Senate and House of Representatives. 
The Senate has twenty-four members ; the House, forty- 
nine. 

Regular sessions of the legislature are held every two 
years and cannot exceed sixty days in length. They begin 
on the second Tuesday in January after each general 
election; that is, in the odd-numbered years. Special 
sessions may be called by the governor at any time when 
in his judgment the public interest may require such action. 
But a special session cannot continue more than thirty 
days, nor transact any business except such as relates to 
the specific purposes mentioned by the governor in his 
proclamation calling the session. All sessions must be held 
at the State capital and must be open to the public. 

336. Legislative Districts. — For choosing members of 
the legislature the State is divided into twenty-four sena- 
torial districts and thirty representative districts (Art. IV, 
Sec. 41). In general each county is a district, but certain 
groups of counties have been joined together in such fashion 
that the same county is included in two or even three 
districts. For example, San Miguel County is in the first, 
second, and third senatorial districts; and Socorro 
County is in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth dis- 

281 



282 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

tricts. Such districting of a State, if done to gain some 
partisan advantage, is known as gerrymandering. 

The constitution permits a redis trie ting of the State for 
representation in the legislature once every ten years, — 
by the first session of the legislature after the publication of 
each census, — but does not require that such reapportion- 
ment shall be made. 

337. Qualifications of Members. — Members of the 
legislature must be citizens of the United States and 
qualified voters of the district in which they are elected, 
and must have been residents of the State for at least 
three years next preceding their election. This excludes 
from the legislature all foreigners and temporary residents. 
A further disqualification, which does not apply at the 
time of election, is that no legislator shall at the time of 
going into office hold any county. State, or National office, 
except that of notary public or an unpaid office in the State 
militia. Representatives must be at least twenty-one 
years old and senators twenty- five. The requirement 
that legislators must be voters disqualified women prior 
to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Fed- 
eral Constitution. 

338. Privileges and Disabilities of Members. — In 
order that members of the legislature may have entire 
freedom of speech and action while performing their duties, 
it is important that they should be free from interference by 
either individuals or other branches of the government. 
The Constitution, therefore, wisely grants them freedom 
from arrest during sessions of the legislature, and while 
going to and returning from such sessions, except in cases of 
treason, felony, or breach of the peace. It likewise grants 
them freedom of speech in the legislative halls, and forbids 



THE STATE LEGISLATURE 283 

legal action against them for any speech made or vote cast 
on any measure under consideration. 

Members may not be appointed to any other office in 
the State. Nor may they be appointed to any office 
created during their term, nor profit by any contract 
authorized, for at least a year after the expiration of their 
term as members of the legislature. And as a check on 
undue railroad influence, they are forbidden to ride on a pass 
or to accept transportation on terms not open to the general 
public. 

339. Compensation and Term of Office. — Members 
of the legislature receive five dollars " for each day's 
attendance " and traveling expenses at the rate of ten 
cents a mile for the distance traveled in going to the capital 
and returning home by the usually traveled route once 
each session. They are forbidden to receive any other 
compensation. 

Representatives are elected for a term of two years 
and serve in only one regular session unless they are re- 
elected. Senators have a term of four years, and thus 
serve in two regular sessions ; yet they are all elected at 
one time, their legislative organization breaks up at the 
close of each session, and at the beginning of their 
second session they must reorganize just as if they had 
never assembled before. This nullifies the very reason 
for the longer term and violates the general American 
principle that when the upper house of a legislature has a 
longer term than the lower, it should be a continuing body, 
only part of its members going out of office at a time. 

A constitutional amendment providing for half of our 
senators to go out of office every two years would greatly 
improve the quality of the Senate's work by having at 
least twelve experienced men in every session. 



284 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

340. Filling Vacancies. — When a vacancy occurs in the 
legislature, it is filled by a special election in the district 
to which the vacated seat belongs. Such an election is 
called, and the date for holding it fixed, by the governor. 
These special elections may frequently occur for members 
of the Senate, whose term is four years ; but, as members 
of the House are elected for but two years and serve in only 
one regular session, it is seldom necessary to fill vacancies 
in that body unless a special session of the legislature is 
to be called. 

341. Powers and Duties of the Separate Houses. — 
Each house regulates its own affairs in accordance with the 
provisions of the State constitution. Each elects its own 
officers, except the presiding officer of the Senate, makes 
its own rules, disciplines its own members even to the 
extent of expulsion, keeps its own Journal, and decides all 
contests between persons claiming to have been elected to 
its membership. These contested elections are frequently 
settled on partisan grounds, the contestant who belongs to 
the dominant party being seated regardless of the merits of 
the case. Such abuses should not be tolerated. 

The House of Representatives has the sole power to 
impeach State officials. The Senate is the court before 
which all impeachments are tried. If the governor or 
lieutenant governor is impeached, the chief justice of the 
Supreme Court presides at the trial. The Senate's approval 
is also necessary for most regular appointments made by 
the governor. 

Impeachment means the formal accusation brought 
against an officer by the House. When the House makes 
its formal charges against an officer before the Senate, he is 
impeached. Whether or not he is to be convicted remains to 



THE STATE LEGISLATURE 285 

be determined by the trial. The vote of two thirds of the 
total membership (sixteen members) of the Senate is 
necessary to convict. All State officers, both executive 
and judicial, and district judges are liable to impeachment 
" for crimes, misdemeanors, and malfeasance in office." 
This does not include members of the legislature, who, in a 
limited sense, are not State, but district officers. If an 
impeached officer is convicted, the Senate may dismiss 
him from office and disqualify him for holding any office 
or voting in the State. 

One bad feature about our impeachment procedure is 
that the mere fact of impeachment forces an official out of 
office until he is acquitted. It violates the sound principle 
of law followed in Federal impeachments, by presuming 
the officer guilty until he proves his innocence. The 
presumption should be that he is innocent unless he is 
proved guilty. 

342. Powers of the Legislature. — The Constitution of 
the United States, Federal statutes and treaties, and the 
constitution of New Mexico are the supreme law of New 
Mexico ; and the State legislature must not pass any act 
in conflict with them. If it does, the courts will declare 
that act unconstitutional, that is, contrary to the con- 
stitution and, therefore, not law. On the other hand, all 
powers not delegated to the Federal government by the 
Constitution of the United States nor denied by it to the 
States are reserved to the States.* These powers, as we 
have seen (sec. 309), are so extensive as to include most 
of the everyday affairs of life. They are, in fact, so ex- 
tensive that the people have forbidden the legislature to 
exercise some of them. 

343. Limitations of the Legislature's Power. - - For these 



286 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

restrictions we must look to the State constitution. The 
most important of them have already been explained in 
the section on the Bill of Rights. Others forbid the legis- 
lature to pass local or special laws concerning court pro- 
cedure, the punishment for crime, collection of taxes, 
management of the public schools, granting divorces, 
changing county seats, incorporating cities, towns, or 
villages, or incorporating or licensing business enterprises. 
And to make this prohibition of local and special legislation 
as full and complete as possible the constitution adds : 
" In every other case where a general law can be made 
applicable, no special law shall be enacted." The estab- 
lished rule, then, is that our laws shall be general in nature, 
not applying to a single individual or to a few persons 
only or to a single locality. 

344. Organization of the Legislature. — On the first 
day of each session the House of Representatives is called 
to order in its hall in the Capitol at Santa Fe by the secre- 
tary of state. After the roll call of members, the House 
proceeds to the election of a speaker, who will be its per- 
manent presiding officer. The secretary of state then 
retires ; the speaker takes the chair ; and the House con- 
tinues the work of organization by the election of a chief 
clerk, sergeant at arms, and numerous minor officials 
and employees, such as stenographers, messengers, door- 
keepers, and others. On the chief clerk rests the responsi- 
bility of keeping the Journal, an accurate official record 
of everything that takes place during the sessions of the 
House. The sergeant at arms assists the speaker in main- 
taining order, and, when ordered by the House, brings in 
enough absent members to make a quorum (twenty-five). 

The organization of the Senate takes place at the same 



THE STATE LEGISLATURE 287 

time and in much the same manner as that of the House 
of Representatives. The most noticeable difference is 
that the lieutenant governor, who is ex officio president 
of the Senate, calls that body to order and acts as its per- 
manent presiding officer. A president pro tempore (tem- 
porary) is elected by the senators from among their own 
number to serve as presiding officer when the lieutenant 
governor is absent. A chief clerk and other officials and 
employees are chosen in the same manner and for the 
same purposes as in the House of Representatives. 

With the process of organization complete in both houses, 
the legislature is ready to hear the governor's annual 
message and begin the work of making laws. 

345. Legislative Committees. — But we must not over- 
look the important committee system through which they 
work. Each house has its members divided into a great 
many committees in order to save time and give an opportu- 
nity for more careful consideration of bills. Many bills, 
particularly those relating to railroads and other corpora- 
tions, are long and complicated. For each house as a 
whole to give proper consideration to the details of such 
bills, along with the large volume of other business, would 
be impossible. Only the smaller committees can do that. 

The most important committees are those on appro- 
priations, corporations, education, elections, finance, and 
the judiciary. These committees are selected in such 
manner as is prescribed by majority vote in each house 
— usually elected in the Senate, where the lieutenant 
governor is the presiding officer, and appointed by the 
speaker in the House of Representatives. The chairman 
and a majority of the members of each committee belong 
to the dominant party. 



288 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

346. How Laws Are Made. — As lawmaking bodies the 
two houses have equal powers. Any bill may originate in 
either house and must be passed by both before it becomes 
a law. When a bill is introduced in either house, the 
presiding officer ordinarily refers it at once to the proper 
committee, though it may be passed without being " re- 
ferred " if the house so desires. The committee examines it 
when the house is not in session and later reports it back 
to the house favorably or unfavorably, and sometimes with 
proposed amendments. Or it may be " killed in commit- 
tee," that is, never reported at all. The speaker of the House 
frequently refers bills that he does not want to pass, to a 
committee which he knows to be unfriendly to them in 
order to have them " killed in committee." 

When a bill is returned, the committee's recommenda- 
tion that it pass or fail is in no way binding, though it is 
usually adopted because the majority of the committee 
represents the majority party in the house to which it 
belongs. 

347. The " Three Readings." — Every bill must have 
three " readings " in each house before it becomes a law. 
Any member may introduce a bill and have it laid on the 
chief clerk's desk. When the chief clerk numbers it properly 
and announces its title, that is its " first reading." The 
presiding officer then refers it to the proper committee. 
Usually it is printed and distributed to the members imme- 
diately upon its introduction. When it is reported out 
of the committee, it is again read by its title with the com- 
mittee's recommendation for its passage or failure. That 
is its " second reading." Again it passes without dis- 
cussion or debate and takes its proper place on the " third 
reading " file. Then, when it is reached for final considera- 



THE STATE LEGISLATURE 289 

tion, it is up for regular debate and amendments. This 
" third reading " must be a reading of the entire bill ; and 
on final passage the roll must be called and the vote of 
every member present recorded. To pass, it must receive 
the approval of a majority of the members present. 

If the bill passes, it is then sent to the other house to 
have substantially the same process repeated, except that 
it is not reprinted. 

Resolutions x pass in much the same manner as bills 
except that there need be only one " reading " and no roll 
call, though resolutions proposing constitutional amend- 
ments must pass by a majority of the total membership 
of each house on roll call. 

348. The Governor's Approval or Veto. — When a bill 
has passed both houses, it then goes to the governor for 
his approval or veto. If he approves it, he signs it and 
deposits it with the secretary of state. It then becomes 
law. But if he disapproves a measure — vetoes it — he 
returns it to the house in which it originated, with a state- 
ment of his objections, called a veto message. It may 
still be passed over his veto by a two-thirds majority 
of the members present and voting in each house and be- 
come law without his signature. Or, the bill may become 
" law by limitation " without his signature if he keeps it 
more than three days besides Sundays without either 
signing or vetoing it ; except that he has six days after the 
adjournment of a session in which to sign or veto the 
many bills that pass and come to him during the last three 
days of the session. All of these bills that he does not 

1 A resolution is a formal expression of the legislative will in incidental matters not 
properly covered by statutes, or of legislative opinion on questions of policy, or of 
legislative approval or disapproval of public acts. A joint resolution requires the 
action of both houses; a concurrent resolution is one passed in the same words by 
each house acting independently. 



29O THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

sign and deliver to the secretary of state have been killed 
by a " pocket veto." 

349. Adjournment. — During a session of the legisla- 
ture neither house may adjourn for more than three days 
(Sundays excepted) without the consent of the other; 
and final adjournment of both houses at the close of a 
session must take place at noon on a day agreed upon by 
joint resolution. In the event of the two houses failing 
to agree on a day there is no provision for adjournment ; 
but the constitution says that " no regular session shall 
exceed sixty days," and that " no special session shall 
exceed thirty days." It is reasonable, therefore, to con- 
clude that any regular session would expire by legal limi- 
tation at the end of its sixty-day term and that a special 
session would be terminated in the same way at the end of 
thirty days. Laws passed after the expiration of these 
periods fixed by the constitution would be invalid. 

350. When Laws Go into Effect. — The general rule 
is that laws go into effect ninety days after the adjourn- 
ment of the legislature ; but there are two important 
exceptions: (1) general appropriations bills go into effect 
as soon as passed and signed, and (2) any law for the " pres- 
ervation of the public peace, health, or safety " will take 
effect immediately if the legislature specifically declares 
it an emergency measure. 

351. Publication of the Laws. — At the close of each 
session of the legislature the secretary of state publishes 
in book form all the laws passed by it and sends copies 
of these " session laws " to the governor, members of 
the legislature, other State and county officers, the courts, 
and the various State institutions. All this takes time; 
and long before the work is through the press and ready 



THE STATE LEGISLATURE 2Ql 

for distribution the newspapers of the State have given 
the people some idea of the contents of the most important 
laws, chiefly through their daily and weekly issues while 
the bills are before the legislature and by general sum- 
maries at the close of the session. 

352. Laws Not Made by the Legislature. — Laws passed 
by the legislature are called State statutes or session 
laws ; but there are many laws in force in the State that 
were not passed by the legislature. The Constitution of 
the United States, Federal laws and treaties, and the 
State constitution are good examples. There is also 
another great body of law in force, which is not the result 
of legislative action, but which is the product of the long 
historical development of the Latin and Anglo-Saxon 
peoples. 

i. The Spanish-Mexican Civil Law, as developed in 
the ancient Roman Empire and modified by local condi- 
tions in Spain and Mexico, was in force here at the time 
of the American Occupation and continued as the rule of 
practice and decision in the courts of the Territory, unless 
there was some statute covering the case, until 1876, 
when the Territorial legislature, in order to harmonize 
our basic law with that of the other American States, 
adopted the English Common Law. Since that time 
little of the Civil Law of Spain and Mexico remains in 
force in the State except as its principles and rules have 
been embodied in our statutory law. 

2. The English Common Law, as modified by American 
historical development, was adopted in 1876 as the rule 
for both decision and court procedure in all cases not 
specifically provided for by statutory law. It consists 
of the great body of principles and rules of civil conduct 



292 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

which originated in the common wisdom and experience of 
society, became in time established customs, and finally 
received judicial sanction in the decisions of English 
and American courts. Because it is not to be found in 
constitutions and statute books it is frequently spoken of 
as the " unwritten law." But we must avoid the mistake 
of thinking that all ancient customs are part of the Common 
Law merely because they are ancient. No custom how- 
ever ancient is part of the Common Law unless the courts 
apply it and enforce it in the decision of cases. 

353. The Referendum. — When laws derive their bind- 
ing force not from the authority of the legislature or other 
representative body but from the will of the people as 
expressed at the polls, they are said to be made by direct 
legislation. We have the referendum, which gives the 
people a final voice on certain laws passed by the legislature ; 
but we do not have the initiative, which would allow the 
people to initiate or propose laws. New Mexico and 
Maryland are the only States that have the referendum 
without the initiative. 

The general rule of the constitution is that a referendum 
vote may be had on any law passed by the legislature except 
(i) general appropriation laws and laws providing for the 
payment of the public debt or interest on it, (2) laws for 
the preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, 
(3) laws for the maintenance of the public schools or State 
institutions, and (4) local or special laws. 

The referendum may be applied only to laws passed at 
the last session of the legislature. It may either suspend 
the operation of a law until it is approved by the people 
or merely bring to a vote a law that has already gone into 
effect. (i)If a new law is so unpopular that within the period 



THE STATE LEGISLATURE 293 

of ninety days before it goes into operation (sec. 350) 
petitions are signed by twenty-five per cent of the voters 
in three-fourths of the counties and twenty-five per cent 
of the whole State and filed with the secretary of state, 
the law will not become effective until it has been sub- 
mitted to popular vote. This is the suspensive referendum; 
that is, it suspends the law until approved by the people. 
Or (2) the law may go into operation and still be annulled 
by a referendum vote. If ten per cent of the voters in 
three-fourths of the counties and ten per cent of the whole 
State petition for a referendum on a law any time up to 
four months before the next general election, the law shall 
be submitted to the people at that election. 

In either case the election procedure and results are 
the same. If a majority of the votes cast on the law are 
against it, it will be annulled and the law of the State 
will be the same as if it had never been passed, provided 
the number of votes cast against it is at least forty per 
cent of the total vote at that election (for governor, con- 
gressmen, and others). On the other hand, if a majority 
is for the law, or if the number against it does not amount 
to forty per cent of the total, the law stands, if it is already in 
operation ; and if it is one whose operation has been sus- 
pended, it goes into effect as soon as the result of the 
election is announced by the State canvassing board. 

The constitution makes the process so difficult that no 
serious effort to use it is likely to be made. States that 
have a workable referendum usually require referendum 
petitions to be signed by not more than five per cent of 
the voters, without any three-fourths-of-the-counties limi- 
tation, and let laws stand or fall on their own merits, 
without the forty-per-cent-of-the-total-vote requirement. 



294 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

354. Representatives in Congress. — Since we live 
under Federal law as well as State law it is proper that 
we should be represented in the Congress of the United 
States. New Mexico has one member in the House of 
Representatives elected from the State at large for a term 
of two years, and two senators elected in the same way for 
a period of six years, one senator being elected at a time. 
A vacancy in the House is rilled by a new election ordered 
by the governor ; a vacancy in the Senate, by the governor's 
appointment until the next election, when a senator will be 
elected to fill the unexpired term. Both senators and rep- 
resentatives receive a salary of $7,500 from the United 
States treasury. 

REFERENCES 

Constitution of New Mexico, Art. IV, Legislative Department. 

J. Q. Dealey, Growth of American State Constitutions, 182-228, 270-284. 

A. N. Holcombe, State Government in the United States, 240-279, 401- 
444. 

W. B. Munro, The Government of the United States, 415-430, 501-521. 

P. S. Reinsch, American Legislatures and Legislative Methods ("Ameri- 
can State" Series), 126-330. 

P. S. Reinsch, Readings on American State Government, 41-139. 

QUESTIONS FOR DEBATE 

Resolved, That all sessions of the legislative committees should be open 
to the public. 

Resolved, That the constitution should be amended to include the initia- 
tive and a more workable referendum. 



QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT 

1. What bodies compose the State legislature? How many mem- 
bers has each? What are their qualifications? What privileges have 
they? 

2. What is "gerrymandering"? 

3. Who is the representative from your district? The senator? What 
compensation do they receive? How long do they hold office? 



THE STATE LEGISLATURE 295 

4. What advantages would be gained by having the Senate a continuing 
body? 

5. What special powers has each house? Who presides if the governor 
is impeached ? Just what does the term impeachment mean ? 

6. What are the general powers of the legislature? How are they 
limited? How often are regular sessions held? When? 

7. Who calls to order the House of Representatives? What officers 
are elected? Who presides? How is the Senate organized? Who pre- 
sides? 

8. What is the function of legislative committees? How are they 
chosen? Why is the method different in the two houses? 

9. Trace a bill through both houses. How may a bill be passed over 
the governor's veto? What is a "pocket veto"? 

10. When do laws go into effect? What laws not passed by the legis- 
lature are in force in the State? 

11. What is the referendum? The initiative? Why is the referendum 
in New Mexico difficult to use? 

12. How many members has New Mexico in each house of Congress? 
Who are they? 



CHAPTER XX 
THE STATE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 

355. Composition. — The executive branch of the State 
government consists of the governor, lieutenant governor, 
secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, attorney general, 
superintendent of public instruction, and commissioner of 
of public lands. 

356. Qualifications, Term of Office, and Salaries. — 
They must all be citizens of the United States, at least 
thirty years of age, and residents of the State for the five 
years immediately preceding their election. The attorney 
general must be a lawyer licensed to practice in the State ; 
and the superintendent of public instruction must be a 
" trained and experienced educator. " 

They are all elected for a term of two years and may 
succeed themselves one time ; but after two consecutive 
terms they are ineligible to hold any State office for a 
period of two years. The lieutenant governor, who may 
succeed himself indefinitely, is an exception to this rule. 

The governor receives a salary of $5,000 a year; the 
attorney general, $4,000 ; and each of the others, $3,000. 
These salaries, with the very short terms, are too low to 
attract the best men. But any time after January 6, 1922, 
they may be increased by the legislature without the 
necessity for a constitutional amendment. 

2Q6 



THE STATE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 297 

I. THE GOVERNOR 

357. Executive Powers and Duties. — The governor is 
the head of the executive branch of the State government. 
On his shoulders rests the responsibility of seeing that the 
laws of the State are enforced and peace and order main- 
tained. To do this effectively he possesses extensive legal 
powers, besides the large influence that naturally goes 
with his high office. He is commander in chief of the 
State's military forces except when they are in the service 
of the United States. If rioting breaks out in any part of 
the State, or there is danger of lynching, or any other 
disorderly elements seem likely to get beyond the control 
of local officials, it is the duty of the governor to call out 
the National Guard or, if necessary, the entire State militia x 
to preserve the peace and execute the laws or to repel in- 
vasion. 

For example, when the coal miners' strike became 
general in the fall of 191 9 and disorders in the mining 
districts seemed likely to endanger life and property, 
Governor Larrazolo declared those regions under martial 
law ; and if Federal troops had not been available for serv- 
ice in the districts, it would have been his duty to call out 
the National Guard or the State militia to preserve order. 

Another large element in the governor's control of 
public affairs lies in his appointing power. All officers 
whose election or appointment is not otherwise specifically 
provided for by the constitution and laws are appointed by 
the governor with the consent of the State Senate. They 
may also be removed by the governor without consulting the 
Senate. These officers and boards are very numerous and 
their terms comparatively short, thus giving each governor 

1 The militia consists of all able-bodie male citizens between eighteen and forty-five 
years of age ; the National Guard means only the organized militia. 



298 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

a large opportunity to serve the State by appointing many 
expert and efficient officers or to build up a personal political 
machine by appointing his party henchmen, according as he 
happens to be a statesman or merely a scheming politician. 
The governor also signs all official commissions issued 
by the State and fills by appointment any State offices that 
may become vacant, except the office of lieutenant governor 
or member of the legislature. Such sppointments are good 
until the next general election. 

358. Judicial Powers. — While a criminal case is pending 
in court the governor has nothing to do with it ; but after 
the criminal has been convicted and sentenced, the governor 
may then intervene and delay the execution of the death 
sentence, or change the death sentence to life imprisonment, 
or even pardon the prisoner outright and restore him to full 
political rights. He cannot pardon a person convicted of 
treason or an officer convicted on impeachment. 

The pardoning power should seldom be used except 
where new evidence of a convicted person's innocence has 
been discovered since his trial. Otherwise the will of the 
governor and not the law of the State would become the 
measure of justice. 

359. Legislative Functions. — Under the constitution 
the governor is the official advisor of the legislature as 
to the conditions and needs of the State. Through his 
regular message at the opening of each legislative session 
he presents these conditions and needs to that body. He 
may then urge them one at a time in a series of special 
messages as the session goes on, backed up by personal 
conferences and pressure on the influential members of the 
legislature, especially of the important legislative com- 
mittees. The regular message is frequently a formal 



THE STATE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 299 

affair, and it is through the special messages and personal 
work that a powerful governor is most likely to get results. 
All this is a matter of personal, political, and official in- 
fluence. 

In the use of the veto, however, the governor has actual 
legal power. It may be applied to a whole bill or to 
individual items in an appropriation bill. Such vetoed 
bills and parts of bills can then become law only by being 
passed over his veto by a two-thirds vote in each house. 

The governor's power to call a special session of the 
legislature is particularly important. The very fact of the 
legislature's being called together in an extra session to 
consider specific measures mentioned in the governor's 
proclamation focuses public attention on those measures 
and adds great weight to his recommendations that they 
be enacted into law. 

But the greatest of all the governor's legislative powers 
is proposed in a constitutional amendment submitted in 
192 1 empowering him to submit to each regular session 
of the legislature a complete budget of revenues and expendi- 
tures for the next two years, accompanied by a " general 
appropriation bill." The legislature may reduce or strike 
out items from this bill but cannot otherwise amend it 
except as to the judicial department, where it may increase 
items. 

360. The Lieutenant Governor. — In case of a vacancy 
in the office of governor because of the governor's absence 
from the State or any other disability to perform the 
functions of the office, the lieutenant governor succeeds to 
all the powers and duties of the office and also receives the 
salary until the governor returns. If the governor dies, 
the lieutenant governor becomes governor for the unexpired 



300 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

term. Otherwise he has no executive powers or duties 
assigned to him by the constitution. 

His only regular function is legislative : he is ex officio 
president of the Senate, but has no vote except in case of 
a tie, when he has a " casting vote " to break the tie. While 
serving in this capacity he receives ten dollars a day with 
the same mileage allowance as members of the Senate. 

In case of the death or absence of both the governor 
and the lieutenant governor, the secretary of state becomes 
governor ; and after him the president pro tempore of the 
Senate. 

II. OTHER EXECUTIVE OFFICERS 

361. Lack of Unity. — The governor is only the chief 
officer of the executive department. In it are many other 
officers elected by the people and neither responsible to 
the governor nor in any sense forming a cabinet of advisers 
and assistants in carrying out a unified executive policy. 
This condition is doubtless a historical product of the long 
controversy in American colonial history between the 
popular assemblies and the royal governors, in which the 
assemblies gradually developed a set of officers of their 
own to control many of the executive affairs of the colony 
in order to keep them out of the royal governor's hands. 
Whatever may be its origin, the custom has outlived its 
usefulness, but is still common in the American States. 

362. The Secretary of State. — The constitution re- 
quires the secretary of state (i) to keep the " Great Seal 
of the State of New Mexico " and affix it to all commissions 
signed by the governor, and (2) to serve as governor when 
both the governor and lieutenant governor are absent or 
unable to perform the functions of the office. His most 



THE STATE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 301 

important duties, however, are not enumerated in the 
constitution : he is (3) the official keeper of the executive 
and legislative records of the State. Every important official 
act of the governor is recorded in the secretary's office ; and 
the journals and other official records of both houses of the 
legislature, all bills and resolutions introduced and laws 
passed are filed for record and safekeeping in his office. 
(4) It is his duty to publish and distribute the laws passed 
by each session of the legislature. (5) He performs many 
other duties of a miscellaneous character, such as issuing 
automobile licenses. 

363. The State Auditor. — The important business of 
handling the State's finances in such way that no one will 
get public money who is not entitled to it and that no 
money shall be paid out except in strict accordance with 
the provisions of appropriation measures and other laws is 
in the hands of the auditor, whose voucher must be issued 
for all moneys to be paid out of the State treasury. 

364. The State Treasurer. — The treasurer acts as a 
sort of banker to receive the State's revenues and pay 
them out on the auditor's warrants (orders). The treasurer 
and auditor act as a check on each other in the accounting 
and financial system of the State. 

365. The Attorney General. — It is the duty of the 
attorney general to give legal advice to the various officers 
and boards of the State government and to represent the 
State in court whenever the State is a party to any im- 
portant legal controversy. His advice to the various 
departments is given in the form of " opinions " on specific 
points of law. These " opinions " published each year, 
form an official commentary on many of the most important 
phases of State law, though they are not final interpreta- 



302 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

tions and binding on the public as are decisions of the courts. 

366. The Superintendent of Public Instruction. — The 

powers and duties of the chief educational officer are dis- 
cussed in the chapter on The Public School System (sec. 
389) and do not need further study here. 

367. The Commissioner of Public Lands. 1 — The State 
owns more than twelve million acres of lands granted by 
Congress or secured in other ways. Most of these lands are 
held by the State in trust for the public schools, the State 
institutions, and other purposes for which they were granted. 
The proper administration of this princely estate belonging 
to our children calls for a man of both ability and integrity : 
for it is the land commissioner's duty to " select, locate, 
classify, and have the direction, control, care, and disposi- 
tion of all public lands, under the provisions of the acts of 
Congress relating thereto and such regulations as may 
be provided by law " of the State. 

368. The State Corporation Commission. — The officers 
already named — governor, secretary, auditor, treasurer, 
attorney-general, superintendent of public instruction, and 
commissioner of public lands — are described by the con- 
stitution as making up the " executive department " ; 
but the State corporation commission properly belongs in 
the same group because its members are elected by the 
people and have primarily executive functions. It issues 
all charters to corporations in the State and grants licenses 
to outside corporations to do business in the State ; and its 
office is the record office for charters and every other kind 
of papers concerning corporations. It has general super- 
vision over the rates and service of railroad, express, 
telephone, telegraph, and sleeping car companies, and works 

1 A constitutional amendment submitted in 1921 abolishes this office and creates a bi- 
partisan State Land Commission of three members appointed by the governor for terms 
of six years, one term expiring every two years. 



THE STATE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 303 

in cooperation with such Federal agencies as the Interstate 
Commerce Commission in the regulation of these public 
service corporations. 

The commission consists of three members elected for 
terms of six years, one commissioner being elected at every 
general election. It is, therefore, a continuing body with 
two old members always holding over. The commissioners 
receive a salary of $3 ,000 a year each and may succeed them- 
selves indefinitely. 

Prior to 1880 each corporation was organized by a special 
act of the legislature. In that year the first general in- 
corporation law was passed, under the terms of which 
any group of persons might form a corporation by comply- 
ing with the provisions of the law. Now all corporations 
must be formed under the general incorporation laws of the 
State. 

369. Officers Appointed by the Governor. — The execu- 
tive officers whose duties we have been studying thus far 
are elected by the people ; but those who are appointed 
by the governor are much more numerous. The following 
are some of the most important : 

The State Board of Public Welfare, composed of five 
members appointed for terms of six years, is a continuing 
body, not more than two of its members being appointed 
each two years. Its work is conducted through a bureau 
of child welfare and a bureau of public health, each under a 
trained director appointed by the board. 

The State Tax Commission is charged with the duty of 
(1) equalizing assessments in the different counties so that 
the same kind of property may pay the same rate of tax all 
over the State, (2) helping to get all the taxable property 
of the State actually on the tax rolls, and (3) assessing 



304 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

all mining property and all railroads, telegraphs, telephones, 
and other public service corporations operating in more 
than one county. 

The duties of the State Board of Education and the State 
Educational Auditor have been explained in the chapter on 
The Public School System (sees. 388, 399). 

The Board of Medical Examiners has charge of the 
licensing of physicians. 

The Traveling Auditor is the expert accountant who 
supervises the accounting systems and financial records of 
the various counties and institutions. He is appointed for 
a term of five years and is removable only for official mis- 
conduct. 

The Bank Examiner keeps check on the condition of the 
banks organized under State law (all except National 
banks) and sees that they obey the banking laws of the 
State. 

The State Engineer is an official adviser and superintend- 
ent of construction on roads, bridges, drainage projects, 
and other public works paid for out of State funds. 

The Superintendent of the Penitentiary has active charge 
of the State prison and all who are confined in it. 

The Mine Inspector is charged with the enforcement of 
the State laws as to safety appliances and good working 
conditions in mines. 

The governing boards of the various State institutions 
and other officers and boards whose duties are fairly indi- 
cated by their titles are too numerous to be listed here. 

370. Federal Agencies in the State. — Just as the State 
commissioner of public lands has charge of the sale, leasing, 
and. general management of all public lands belonging to the 
State and its institutions, so the United States Land Offices 



THE STATE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 305 

at Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Roswell, Fort Sumner, Tucumcari, 
and Clayton, each in charge of a" receiver " and a " regis- 
ter," have control of the sale and leasing of the public 
lands belonging to the Federal government. The Forest 
Service manages the National forests in the State, leases 
them for grazing purposes, and supervises the cutting of 
timber in such a way as to conserve the young trees and 
prevent the entire destruction of the forests. 

The Reclamation Service is engaged in promoting the 
agricultural development of the State through such irri- 
gation enterprises as the Elephant Butte Project in the 
lower Rio Grande Valley and the Hondo and Carlsbad 
projects in the Pecos Valley. The Weather Bureau main- 
tains its service in the State primarily to serve the farming 
and stock-raising industries by giving advance notice of 
important changes in the weather. The Agricultural 
Experiment Station at the State College serves the same 
interests through experimentation in the handling of stock 
and growing of crops under conditions in the semi-arid 
Southwest. 

REFERENCES 

Constitution of New Mexico, Art. V, the Executive Department; Art. 
XI, Corporations other than Municipal ; Art. XIII, Public Lands. 

New Mexico Legislative Blue Book issued every two years. 

J. H. Finley and J. H. Sanderson, The American Executive and Exec- 
utive Methods ("American State" Series), 3-184. 

J. Q. Dealey, Growth of American State Constitutions, 160-171, 285- 
290. 

A. N. Holcombe, State Government in the Vnited States, 280-^44. 

W. B. Muneo, The Government of the United States, 431-472. 

P. S. Reinsch, Readings on American State Government, 1-40, 222-327. 

QUESTIONS FOR DEBATE 

Resolved, That the constitution should be so amended as to lengthen 
the governor's term and make him eligible for reelection indefinitely. 



306 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

Resolved, That the governor should be elected by the people and that 
all other officers of the executive department should be appointed by the 
governor and responsible to him. 

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT 

i. Who compose the executive department? What are their quali- 
fications? How long do they hold office? What salaries do they receive? 

2. What are the executive powers of the governor? How does the 
power of appointment give the governor control of public affairs? What 
is the " spoils system " ? 

3. How should the pardoning power be used? How does the governor 
exercise legislative power? 

4. What are the duties of the lieutenant governor? The secretary of 
state? 

5. What officials have charge of State finances? What are the duties 
of each? 

6. Why does the commissioner of public lands have a particularly re- 
sponsible position? 

7. What is the function of the State corporation commission? 

8. Name some of the important officers and boards appointed by the 
governor and give their duties. 

9. What are the purposes of the United States Land Office, the Forest 
Service, the Reclamation Service, and the Agricultural Experiment Sta- 
tion? 



CHAPTER XXI 
THE COURTS OF THE STATE 

371. Introductory. — The judicial power of the State 
is vested in 

i. The Senate when sitting as a court of Impeachment. 

2. The Supreme Court. 

3. The District Courts. 

4. The Probate Courts (one in each county). 

5. The Justice of the Peace Courts (one in each precinct). 

6. Any other courts inferior to the district courts, which 
the legislature may establish or authorize, such as the 
juvenile courts (one in each county) and the police courts 
in our cities. 

I. THE SUPREME COURT 

372. Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. — At the head 
of the court system of the State stands the Supreme Court 
with a sort of supervising control over all the lower courts. 
It has both original and appellate jurisdiction. 1 

1. The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in 
only two classes of cases : (1) in a quo warranto proceeding 
against a State officer or State board ; that is, in a suit 
brought against an officer or board to make him show by 
what warrant, or right, he holds his office, or why he should 
not be removed from it by the court ; and (2) in a mandamus 

1 A court has original jurisdiction when a case may be begun or originated in it; it has 
only appellate jurisdiction if the case must be begun in a lower court and brought up to it 
by appeal. 

307 



308 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

proceeding against such officers ; that is, in a suit asking 
the court to issue a specific order or command to them to 
do certain specific things or perform certain duties. 

2. Its appellate juristiction extends to all final judgments 
and decisions of the district courts, and to such other 
orders and decisions of those courts as the legislature may 
prescribe. This is the field of the court's real power. It 
is a rare thing indeed for a case to be begun before the 
Supreme Court; but cases are constantly being brought up 
by appeal from the district courts to have important points 
of law settled by its decision. For the full and complete 
exercise of its jurisdiction it may issue all writs and other 
orders necessary for hearing and determining the cases 
brought before it. 

The decision of the Supreme Court is final in every case 
brought before it involving only the laws of New Mexico ; 
but if it denies any power or authority claimed under 
Federal law, the defeated party may appeal to the Supreme 
Court of the United States. 

373. Sessions of the Supreme Court. — The Supreme 
Court has but one term a year, beginning on the second 
Wednesday in January and continuing throughout the 
year, with such recesses as the justices may think proper. 
But we must avoid the error of thinking of this as a whole 
year's public session such as we see now and then for a short 
period of time in each county. The Supreme Court holds 
these open, public sessions for hearing oral arguments 
by attorneys in important cases before it three times each 
year, beginning on the second Wednesday in January and 
the first Mondays in May and September and continuing as 
long as business demands. During the remainder of the 
year it is " in session " only in the sense that the justices 



THE STATE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 309 

are in their offices in the State Capitol and ready to transact 
proper judicial business ' in chambers " at any time. 

374. Supreme Court Judges. — The Supreme Court is 
composed of three justices elected for terms of eight years 
each, only one being elected at a time. They must be at 
least thirty years of age and " learned in the law," and 
must have resided in the State as practicing lawyers or 
judges at least three years before election. No one of 
them is elected as chief justice, but the one having the 
shortest term to serve is, because of that fact, chief justice 
of the court. That means that the oldest (and therefore 
most experienced) of the three under the regular eight- 
year term will be the head of the court at any given time, 
and that the younger members will be associate justices. 
A judge elected to fill an unexpired term never becomes 
chief justice. 

The supreme judges receive a salary of $6,000 a year 
and are eligible to succeed themselves indefinitely. The 
legislature might, if there were any necessity for it, increase 
the number of judges to five, which is the limit set by the 
constitution. 

A vacancy in the Supreme Court is filled by the governor's 
appointment until the next general election, when a justice 
will be elected to fill the unexpired term. 

375. Other Officers of the Court. — The judges of the 
Supreme Court appoint a clerk to prepare the " docket " 
or official list of cases coming' before the court, to issue 
the court's orders, and to keep the official record of business 
transacted; a bailiff to serve writs and carry out other 
orders of the court in much the same fashion that a sheriff 
executes the orders of the courts in his county; and a 
reporter to prepare for publication the permanent official 



3IO THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

record of every case heard and decided by the court. 
These published reports are the highest official explanation 
of the law of the State on the points that have come before 
the court. 

II. THE DISTRICT COURTS 

376. Judicial Districts. — The State is divided into 
nine judicial districts containing the following groups 
of counties : — 

I. Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, San Juan, and McKinley. 

II. Bernalillo and Sandoval. 

III. Dofia Ana, Otero, Lincoln, and Torrance. 

IV. San Miguel, Mora, and Guadalupe. 
V. Eddy, Chaves, and Lea. 

VI. Grant, Luna, and Hidalgo. 

VII. Socorro, Valencia, Sierra, and Catron. 

VIII. Taos, Colfax, Union, and Harding. 

IX. Curry, De Baca, Quay, and Roosevelt. 

377. Importance of the District Courts. — The great 
volume of legal business of the State is transacted in the 
district courts. They have practically an unlimited 
original jurisdiction to hear and determine both civil and 
criminal cases, and appellate jurisdiction over all actions 
begun in the probate courts and justice of the peace courts 
below. Not only are most of the civil suits brought in 
the district courts and most of the prosecutions for crime 
begun in them, but the large majority of all cases are finally 
settled there. Yet an appeal from the decision of the district 
court in any case may be taken to the State Supreme Court. 
Each district court holds two regular sessions a year at the 
county seat of each county in the district. The district 



THE STATE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 



3" 



judge is ex officio judge of the juvenile court in each county 
of his district. 

378. District Judges and Attorneys. — There is one 




JUDICIAL DISTRICTS 



district judge elected for each of the nine judicial districts. 
His term of office is six years, his qualifications the same as 
the qualifications for justices of the Supreme Court (sec. 
374), and he must be a resident of the district in which he 
is elected. 



312 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

There is one district attorney in each district. It is his 
duty to conduct the prosecution of all persons accused of 
criminal offenses against the laws of the State and to act 
as legal adviser to the various county officers in his district. 
He is elected for a term of four years and must be a person 
" learned in the law," a resident of the State for three 
years next preceding his election, and a resident of the 
district at the time of election. 

The district judges receive from the State treasury a 
salary of $4,500 a year, with an additional $750 as juvenile 
court judges; the district attorneys, $3,000 except in the 
sixth district, including Grant, Luna, and Hidalgo counties, 
where the salary is only $2,750. The district attorney also 
receives his salary from the State treasury ; but only 
$1,000 of it is contributed by the State. The remainder is 
paid into the State treasury by the different counties in 
amounts fixed by law. 

A vacancy in the office of district judge or district attor- 
ney is filled in the same manner as vacancies in the Supreme 
Court, that is, by the governor's appointment until the 
next general election, when an officer is chosen for the un- 
expired term. 

III. COUNTY AND PRECINCT COURTS 

379. Probate Courts. — Each county has a probate 
court whose special business it is to probate (prove) wills 
that are brought in to be recorded, to appoint administra- 
tors of the estates of people who die without making a will, 
to appoint guardians for orphan children, and to examine 
the accounts and control the actions of executors and 
administrators of estates. There are six regular sessions 
a year. Appeal may be taken from any decision of the 
probate court to the district court. 



THE COURTS OF THE STATE 313 

Probate judges are county officers elected for a period of 
two years. They receive a salary of $800 in first-class 
counties ; $600 in second-class counties ; $400 in third- 
class counties ; and $300 in fourth- and fifth-class counties 
(sec. 402). A vacancy in the office of probate judge is 
filled temporarily by the county clerk until the county 
commissioners appoint a person for the unexpired term. 

380. Justice of the Peace Courts. — In each precinct 
there is a justice of the peace court for hearing small civil 
suits and trying persons accused of petty misdemeanors. 1 
The limit of punishment by a justice of the peace is a fine 
of $100 or six months' imprisonment in the county jail or 
both fine and imprisonment ; but the justice also has con- 
siderable power as a " committing magistrate " to hold 
accused persons for action by the grand jury and the district 
courts. 

In civil suits also he is restricted to hearing small con- 
troversies over money or personal property not over $200 in 
amount and may not hear any kind of suit concerning 
title to land, title to public office, or other important 
business. In other words, the justice of the peace is 
strictly a " judge in small matters " ; and appeals may be 
taken from his judgments to the district court. 

A civil suit in the justice's court must be tried before 
a jury if either party requests it; and in a criminal case 
the accused person may demand a jury. In either case the 
jury will consist of six voters of the precinct. 

381. Civil and Criminal Law. — The laws concerning the 
personal and business relations of one person to another 
in such matters as contracts, deeds, mortgages, and the 

1 Crimes are classified as felonies or misdemeanors. A felony is a crime punishable with 
death or imprisonment in the State penitentiary; any crime receiving a smaller punishment 
is a misdemeanor. 



314 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

ownership of real and personal property, but not affecting 
the general peace and safety of the community, are called 
civil laws; and lawsuits concerning any of these matters 
are called civil cases. 

Those laws, on the other hand, which provide for the 
protection of the State and society from disorder through 
the prevention and punishment of crime are called criminal 
laws. They provide for the punishment of stealing, libel, 
slander, murder, and numerous other offenses against the 
dignity of the State and the safety of the people. Suits 
brought by the State for the violation of these laws are 
called criminal cases. 

382. Civil Cases. — In a civil case two parties (individ- 
uals, groups, or corporations) are in dispute over some 
rights or powers under the law, which they have not been 
able to settle between themselves. One of them appeals 
to the court to hear the facts of the controversy and settle 
it for them according to law. The party that first takes 
the matter into court is called the plaintiff; the other is 
known as the defendant. Neither is a criminal under arrest. 
They are simply parties to a private business controversy 
which the court is asked to settle ; and there may be no 
jury at all, or if there is one, it merely passes on disputed 
questions of fact. Each party pays his own lawyer unless 
the court orders the other party to pay the costs of the 
trial. The State is not a party to the suit at all ; it simply 
provides the facilities for settling it according to law. 

383. Criminal Cases. — In a criminal case the whole 
procedure is different. The man who commits a crime is 
endangering the peace and safety of the community. The 
State must, therefore, become a party to the affair and 
deal with him in such a way as to discourage criminal con- 
duct. 



i 



THE COURTS OF THE STATE 315 

For example, John Doe assaults a man by striking him 
or steals money from him ; the injured person or some one 
else under oath reports the facts to a justice of the peace. 
The justice issues a warrant for the arrest of Doe and brings 
him before the justice of the peace to answer for a crime 
against the State. If there were persons who saw the act 
they are summoned as witnesses. Doe may demand a 
jury of six men and have a lawyer to defend him ; and the 
State may be represented by the district attorney to prose- 
cute him. If Doe is guilty and the punishment which 
the law prescribes for his offense is not more than a $100 
fine or six months' imprisonment in the county jail or 
both, the justice of the peace may pass sentence on him. 
If the legal punishment is greater than that, all that the 
justice can do is to commit Doe to jail to await the action 
of the grand jury and a trial at the next session of the 
district court in the county. 

If the justice imposes a fine on Doe or sentences him 
to imprisonment, Doe's lawyer may appeal the case to the 
district court for a new trial, if he thinks the trial before 
the justice of the peace has not been fair or that the decision 
is not according to the law. 

384. Trial by Jury. — At the next term of the district 
court Doe's case will come up for an entirely new trial 
by jury as if there had been no trial before the justice of the 
peace. A trial jury, or petit (small) jury, consists of 
twelve men who hear all the evidence in the case and are 
sworn to render a verdict (true statement) of " guilty " 
or " not guilty " according to the law as explained by the 
judge and the facts proved in this particular trial. Whether 
or not the man is known to be an habitual criminal will have 
little weight in determining the verdict of the jury as to 



316 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

whether he is guilty of this particular offense; though if 
he is found guilty, it may have very great weight in deter- 
mining whether the judge will give him a light sentence 
or the heaviest punishment the law allows. 

Here again, as in the former trial before the justice of 
the peace, after Doe has been convicted and sentenced, his 
lawyer may appeal the case to the State Supreme Court 
if he thinks the district judge has made any serious errors 
in the conduct of the trial, such as ruling out important 
evidence or making a faulty interpretation of the law in his 
instructions to the jury. But in the Supreme Court there 
is no new trial. That court merely decides the disputed 
points of law and procedure and either " affirms " or 
" reverses " the decision of the district court. If it affirms 
the decision, the case is closed and Doe must accept his 
punishment. If it reverses the decision, he will get a new 
trial in the same district court. 

385. The Grand Jury. — If in the case just described 
Doe had not been brought to trial before a justice of the 
peace, he would probably have been brought before the 
district court by an indictment or presentment by a grand 
(large) jury. 

A grand jury is a jury of eighteen to twenty-four men 
whose duty it is to hear evidence concerning reported cases 
of crime or acts contrary to the public welfare. These 
reports usually go to the grand jury in the form of a bill 
of indictment drawn up by the district attorney. If the 
grand jury's investigation brings out no evidence of guilt, 
they return the bill of indictment marked " not a true bill." 
But if there is probability that the accused person is guilty, 
they return the indictment marked " a true bill," and he 
has to stand trial before a jury in court. At least eighteen 



THE COURTS OF THE STATE 317 

members of a grand jury must be present to transact 
business, and it takes the consent of twelve members to 
return " a true bill." Information as to cases of law- 
breaking of which members of the grand jury have knowl- 
edge may be furnished to the court without waiting for a 
bill of indictment. Such a report is called a presentment 
and usually leads to an investigation under a bill of indict- 
ment. 

IV. FEDERAL COURTS 

386. New Mexico a Federal District. — As we live 

under Federal as well as State law, we have in New Mexico 
Federal courts as well as State courts. New Mexico is one 
judicial district in the eighth Federal circuit, and regular 
terms of the United States district court are held at Santa 
Fe beginning on the first Mondays in April and October. 
These courts are ordinarily held by the one Federal district 
judge who resides in the State. Cases before them are 
conducted for the government by the United States dis- 
trict attorney ; and the orders of the court are carried out 
by the United States marshal, whose duties are similar 
to those of the sheriff in a county. 

All these officers of the Federal court are appointed by 
the President and paid by the United States government. 
The district judge holds office during good behavior and 
receives a salary of $7,500 a year. The United States 
marshal and attorney are appointed for terms of four years 
and receive a salary of $4,500 a year each. 

REFERENCES 

Constitution of New Mexico, Art. VI, Judicial Department. 
S. E. Baldwin, The American Judiciary (" American State " Series, 125 
-136, 152-285. 



318 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

J. Q. Dealey, Growth of American State Constitutions, 1 72-181, 290- 
292. 

A. N. Holcombe, State Government in the United States, 345-393. 

W. B. Munro, The Government of the United States, 498-500. 

P. S. Reinsch, Readings on American State Government, 140-221. 

QUESTIONS FOR DEBATE 

Resolved, That the trial jury of twelve men should be abolished and all 
cases tried before a jury of five men trained in the law. 

Resolved, That the judges of the Supreme Court should be appointed 
by the governor instead of being elected by the people. 

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT 

1. In what courts is the judicial power of the State vested? 

2. Do you see any good reason why the Supreme Court should have 
but little original jurisdiction? 

3. How does the chief justice get his office? What salary do the su- 
preme judges receive? 

4. Why are the district courts important? How many of them are 
there? What salary do the judges receive? 

5. What are the qualifications of supreme and district judges? 

6. What are the duties of the district attorneys? 

7. What are the functions of the probate courts? The justice of the 
peace courts ? 

8. Distinguish felony from misdemeanor. 

9. If the maid steals the silver teapot, how may the mistress proceed 
against her? Is this a civil or criminal case ? Why? Will the grand jury 
have anything to do with it? The petit jury? Why? 



CHAPTER XXII 
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM » 

387. Introduction. — In the United States we have no 
Federal system of education. The nearest approach to 
such a system is found in the agricultural colleges of the 
country. The facts concerning the control of the State 
school system fall logically under the powers and duties 
of the various officials of the State, county, and local 
government. But they can be more clearly and systemat- 
ically set forth as a unit; and the supreme importance of 
public education in a democracy justifies the treatment 
of the subject in a separate chapter. 

388. The State Board of Education. — The general 
control and supervision of the public school system is 
placed in the hands of the State board of education, subject 
to the constitution and laws of the State. The board con- 
sists of seven members. The governor and superintendent 
of public instruction are ex officio president and secretary. 
The other five members are appointed by the governor with 
the approval of the State Senate for terms of four years 
each, two being appointed at one time and three at another 
in the odd-numbered years, so that the board is a contin- 
uing body with some of its members going out and others 
coming in every two years. One member must be a 
county superintendent of schools ; one, the head of a State 

1 Reread Chapter XIV, especially sees. 258-275. 

319 



320 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

educational institution; one other, a practical educator; 
and the remaining two may come from any field of ac- 
tivity. Not more than three of the five appointed mem- 
bers may belong to the same political party. 

The board has charge of the certification of teachers, 
the management of teachers' institutes, prescribing the 
course of study, and the adoption of a uniform series of 
textbooks (not to be changed oftener than once in six 
years) for the common schools. It holds four regular 
meetings each year and such special meetings as its business 
may require. The members receive a compensation of five 
dollars a day for their services and an allowance of five 
cents a mile each way for traveling expenses. 

389. The Superintendent of Public Instruction. — The 
State superintendent of public instruction is elected by 
popular vote for a term of two years at each general 
election. He must be a citizen of the United States, 
thirty years of age, a resident of the State for the five 
years next preceding his election, and a trained and expe- 
rienced educator. He receives a salary of $3,000 a year, 
and has an assistant, appointed by himself. 

The State superintendent is secretary and chief executive 
officer of the State board of education. On his shoulders 
falls the burden of putting into effective operation its 
general plans and policies. On his training, experience, 
and wise leadership depends, to a very large extent, the 
efficient and harmonious development of the whole public 
school system. He interprets the school law and super- 
vises its enforcement throughout the State, visits the various 
counties and institutions, holds teachers' meetings, and 
confers with county superintendents and school boards. 
Four times a year — in March, June, September, and 



THE COURTS OF THE STATE 



321 



December — he apportions the State current school fund 
to the counties according to the number of children of 
school age (five to twenty-one years) . 

Nobody but an educational expert of the highest order 
should ever be elected to this high office; he should be 
provided with an adequate salary ; and his election should 
be placed in the spring with other school elections in 




Consolidated Rural School in Curry County 



order to get it away from the partisan influence of the gen- 
eral election. His term of office should be lengthened to 
at least four years 

390. The County Board of Education. — The county unit 
law places the administration of the rural schools in each 
county under the control of the county board of education 
and the county superintendent of schools. This board is 
composed of five members. The county superintendent is 
ex officio its chairman and executive officer. The other 



322 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

four members are appointed by the district judge for terms 
of four years, two being appointed in each odd-numbered 
year, so that the board is a continuing body. Not more 
than two of the appointed members may belong to the 
same political party. 

Subject to the general authority of the State board 
of education, the county board has complete control of 
all rural schools and all schools in unincorporated towns 
and villages. It provides schoolhouses, grounds, equipment, 
and supplies, changes district lines, consolidates old dis- 
tricts and creates new ones, holds the title to all school 
property of the county, apportions funds to the different 
districts, pays out all school moneys, and has full power to 
approve or disapprove teachers employed by the school 
directors. 

The actual carrying out of these numerous functions 
of the board lies with its executive officer, the county 
superintendent, while the board meets from time to time 
and passes upon his actions. 

391. The County Superintendent. — The center and 
head of the county school system is the county superintend- 
ent of schools. He is elected at each general election for a 
term of two years, must be a legally qualified voter of the 
county, and may succeed himself but one time. He re- 
ceives a salary of $2,000 in first-class counties, $1,800 in 
second-class counties, $1,500 in third-class counties, and 
$1,300 in fourth-class counties (sec. 402). 

His control over the schools of the county is similar 
to that of the State superintendent over those of the whole 
State. He is the county's educational executive and the 
spokesman of the county board of education. All schools 
in the county, except those in incorporated cities, towns, and 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 323 

villages, are under his direct charge and supervision. It 
is his duty to visit them, conduct teachers' meetings, 
supervise the work in all its phases, and enforce the com- 
pulsory attendance and vaccination laws. 

The same changes in the constitution needed for the 
State superintendent (sec. 389) apply with equal force to 
the office of county superintendent. 

392. School Directors. — Each school district in the 
county has a board of three directors elected for a term 
of three years each, one director being elected each year 
on the second Monday in April. They have immediate 
charge and responsibility for the schoolhouse and . other 
property of the district, take the school census, collect the 
poll tax, aid in enforcing the compulsory attendance law, 
and assist the county board of education in preparing the 
annual budget. Their power to employ teachers is subject 
to the approval or disapproval of the county board of 
education. 

393. County High Schools. — Any county may estab- 
lish one or more county high schools providing free instruc- 
tion for all children of the county who are of high-school 
grade. It is a local option arrangement by which each 
county decides for itself at a special election. 

If a county high school is located in an incorporated 
city, town, or village, it is governed by the board of educa- 
tion of the district. If it is located in a rural district, 
the county board of education has charge. In either case 
the governing board makes all general rules and regulations, 
employs teachers, and provides proper courses of study, 
which must include work in agriculture, manual training, 
home economics, and commercial branches. The board 
may also bond the district in which the county high school 



324 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

is located to purchase grounds, erect buildings, and provide 
proper equipment. 

Such county high schools are supported by a general 
county tax of not more than two mills on the dollar over 
and above the eighteen mills allowed for the general county 
school fund. If a county establishes more than one county 
high school, the high-school fund is apportioned among them 
each year according to their record of attendance for the 
preceding year. 

394. Cities, Towns, and Villages. — The schools in 
incorporated cities, towns, and villages are separate and 
distinct from the rural schools and practically independent 
of the county superintendent and county board of educa- 
tion. They are governed by a board of education of 
five members elected for terms of four years from the 
municipality at large on the first Tuesday in April of the 
odd-numbered years, two being elected at one election and 
three at the next. An exception to this rule should be 
noted for a few places incorporated under special acts, 
where the whole board is elected at one time, on the 
second Tuesday in April. A member of the board of 
education must be a qualified voter who has resided in the 
city or town for at least two years and must not be a member 
of the city or town council. 

These boards employ city and town superintendents and, 
through them, conduct the schools. Incorporated cities 
have the power to issue certificates to their teachers with- 
out requiring them to secure a State certificate. Any 
incorporated municipal district may by special election 
bond itself for the erection of school buildings and improve- 
ment of school property up to six per cent of its total 
taxable property. 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 325 

395. Vocational Education. — The State has a co- 
operative arrangement with the United States government 
for vocational training in agriculture, home economics, and 
trades and industries in high schools and other institutions 
of the State and for the training of teachers of those subjects 
under the provisions of the Smith-Hughes Act of Congress. 
This work is under the joint control of the Federal Govern- 
ment and the State board of education acting as the State 
board for vocational education, and is under the active 
supervision of the State director of industrial education 
appointed by the State board and working under the 
authority and immediate direction of the State superintend- 
ent of public instruction. 

396. Compulsory Attendance. — The law requires all 
children in the State between six and sixteen years of age 
to attend the public school during the entire length of the 
term in their district (which must be at least seven months 
for ungraded schools and nine months for graded schools 1 ) 
unless they are attending a private school approved by the 
State board of education. There are two important 
exceptions to this rule : attendance is not compulsory 
for children living over three miles from the school unless 
there is a public conveyance ; and those who are from 
fourteen to sixteen years of age may be excused from full- 
time attendance if they are regularly employed. If there 
are as many as fifteen such cases in any one district, a part- 
time school must be established for them under rules and 
regulations of the State board. 

397. School Revenues. — The State has two general 
school funds : the permanent school fund and the current 
school fund. The permnent fund is derived from the 

'A graded school is one having four or more teachers. 



326 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

sale of public school lands (sections 2, 16, 32, and 36 in 
each township) and from the sale of other public lands in 
the State, five per cent of which goes into the school fund. 
This permanent fund is invested by the State, and only 
the interest on it may be spent from year to year. At the 
present time (1920) the whole fund amounts to only about 
$5,000; but as population increases and land values rise 
the fund should grow to considerable proportions, for the 
State still owns more than eight million acres of public 
school lands. 

The current school fund is derived from (1) interest 
on the permanent fund, (2) rentals received from school 
lands, (3) a general State levy of one half mill on all taxable 
property, and in a small way from (4) fines and forfeitures 
imposed by the courts for the violation of law, and (5) from 
the sale of property left by people who die without heirs and 
without making a will. This fund, to be spent for the 
annual maintenance of the schools, is apportioned among 
the counties by the State superintendent of public instruc- 
tion four times each year (sec. 389). 

The county school budget is made by the county superin- 
tendent with the assistance of the district directors and 
the approval of the county commissioners. The county 
school fund is derived from (1) the State current school 
fund, (2) a general county school tax of not over eighteen 
mills on the dollar, full valuation, of all taxable property 
in the county, and (3) in many of the counties from Na- 
tional Forest revenues, twenty-five per cent of which 
goes into the school fund of the counties in which the 
forests are located. It is distributed to all school dis- 
tricts, including incorporated and unincorporated cities, 
towns, and villages, by the county superintendent on the 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 327 

basis of their total census, and it must be sufficient to 
maintain a term of at least seven months in every ungraded 
school and nine months in every graded school. The poll 
tax also belongs to the district fund and is collected by the 
clerk of the board of directors. All other taxes are collected 
by the county collector. 

All rural school grounds, buildings, and permanent 
equipment are paid for out of district funds raised by 
special district tax levied by the county commissioners, 
or by bonds voted by the district for that purpose and 
not exceeding six per cent of the assessed valuation of the 
taxable property of the district. For these purposes 
incorporated cities, towns, and villages may bond themselves 
in the same way and to the same amount. 

398. State Educational Institutions. — The State con- 
stitution confirmed the following institutions, which had 
already been established by the Territory : 

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. 

New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, 
State College. 

New Mexico School of Mines, Socorro. 

New Mexico Military Institute, Roswell. 

New Mexico Normal University, East Las Vegas. 

New Mexico Normal School, Silver City. 

Spanish-American Normal School, El Rito. 

New Mexico Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, Santa Fe. 

New Mexico Institute for the Blind, Alamogordo. 

The constitution places these institutions under the 
direct control of the State through boards of five regents 
appointed by the governor, with the approval of the State 
Senate, for a term of four years. Not more than three 
of them may belong to the same political party. By 



328 THE GOVERNMENT CF NEW MEXICO 

statute the governor and State superintendent of public 
instruction are ex officio advisory members of all these 
boards without the right to vote or hold office. 

There is a needed change which the legislature could 
make without the necessity for constitutional amendment. 
The present arrangement by which all the members of 
each board go out of office at the same time and a whole new 
board comes in every four years is thoroughly bad and 
should be so changed that only a part of each board would 
be appointed at any one time, as has already been done 
with the State and county boards of education. The 
boards of regents would then become continuing bodies with 
less possibility of sudden political influence detrimental to 
the welfare of the institutions. 

The income of the State institutions is primarily from 
direct appropriations made by the State legislature and in 
a smaller way from rentals on lands granted to them by 
the United States government, except in the case of the 
Agricultural College, which receives its principal support 
from the Federal government. 

399. The Educational Auditor. — All levies for school 
purposes in counties, cities, towns, and villages are under 
the supervision and control of the State educational auditor 
appointed by the governor for an indefinite term of office 
and removable by him at any time. All budgets and esti- 
mates of county, district, and city boards of education, 
as well as of State educational institutions, must be sub 
mitted to the educational auditor and approved or revised 
by him before any expenditures of public money may 
be made for school or institutional purposes. 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 329 

REFERENCES 

Reports of the State superintendent of public instruction. 

Constitution of New Mexico, Art. XII, Education. 

Public School Laws compiled by the State Department of Education. 

New Mexico Statutes Annotated (Code) of 191 5, Chapter XCLX, 
Schools and School Districts ; CI, State Institutions ; and Session Laws of 
later date. 

P. S. Reinsch, Readings on American State Government, 338-363. 

J. H. Vaughan, History of Education in New Mexico,- Chapters VII-IX. 



QUESTIONS FOR DEBATE 

Resolved, That the State superintendent of public instruction should be 
appointed by the governor for a long term. 

Resolved, That sufficient county and local funds, with State aid, should 
be provided to maintain a nine-months school in every district. 

Resolved, That New Mexico should have as good schools as any State 
in the Union. 

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT 

1. What are the functions of the State board of education? Who are 
the present members ? How are they chosen ? 

2. Why is the office of State superintendent of public instruction es- 
pecially important ? What changes should be made concerning it ? 

3. How are the county common schools managed and supported? 
County high schools? City schools? 

4. What provision is made for vocational training? 

5. What is the rule concerning compulsory attendance? Is it enforced 
in your district? Why? 

6. Name and locate the State educational institutions. How are they 
supported? How are they managed? How could the management be 
improved ? 



CHAPTER XXIII 
COUNTY GOVERNMENT 

400. Origin of County Government. — When the Spanish 
colonists in New Mexico began to develop a system of local 
government, they grouped their scattered settlements and 
villages into counties, districts, or " jurisdictions " (sec. 
150). In like manner the English colonists who settled 
on the fertile lands of Virginia, the Carolinas, and other 
southern States scattered out on large plantations and 
adopted the county as their unit of local government 
because it was large enough to include a great many planta- 
tions. 

When these Southerners began to move westward they 
occupied successive belts of sparsely settled agricultural 
and grazing country and transplanted to them the county 
type of government, not only because it was the type to 
which they were accustomed, but because it was the only 
one suited to southwestern conditions. In New Mexico 
the two systems met. Our county type of government, 
therefore, owes its origin and permanence to both Spanish 
and English sources. 

401. Functions of County Government. — Unlike the 
State, which has its own large sphere of independent action 
which cannot be changed by the Federal government, the 
counties are not independent units with powers of their own, 
but convenient political divisions for the execution of State 
law. They were created by the legislature, and their 

330 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT 



331 



powers, duties, and even their territory may be changed by 
the legislature. The government of a county must execute 
the laws of the State throughout its whole area; collect 
taxes — State, county, and local ; preserve order ; make the 
necessary provision for public education; maintain a 




Chaves County Court House 



system of public highways and bridges ; and perform any 
other duties placed upon it by State law. 

402. Classification of Counties and County Salaries. — 
For determining the salaries of county officers the legis- 
lature of 191 5 classified the counties of the State into five 
classes on the basis of the assessed valuation of the taxable 
property in each county, as follows : 

First Class, $14,000,000 or over. Second Class, from $8,250,000 
to $14,000,000. Third Class, from $6,500,000 to $8,250,000. Fourth 
Class, from $4,750,000 to $6,500,000. Fifth Class, less than $4,750,000. 



332 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

The official salary schedule is as follows : 

I II III IV V 

County Commissioners . . $ 800 $ 600 $ 400 $ 300 $ 300 

Probate Judge 800 600 400 300 300 

Superintendent of Schools . 2,000 1,800 1,500 1,400 1,300 
Assessor ......... 3,000 2,200 2,400 1,750 1,200 

Treasurer ....... 3,000 2,200 2,400 1,750 1,200 

Sheriff 3,Soo 2,700 2,400 1,750 1,500 

Clerk 3,000 2,200 2,400 1,750 1,500 

Surveyor, $10 a day for not more than 150 days a year in first and 

second class counties, 75 days in third and fourth class counties. 

50 days in fifth class counties. 

In addition to these salaries, the assessor, treasurer, 
and clerk each receive $1,000 a year for deputy and clerk 
hire; and the sheriff is allowed deputy hire of $1,500 in 
first- and second-class counties, $800 in third-class counties, 
$700 in fourth-class counties, and $500 in fifth-class counties. 
Besides, the sheriffs in the one large county of Socorro 
and in the three border counties of Dona Ana, Luna, and 
Hidalgo may each have an additional deputy at a salary of 
$1,200; and if any one of these border counties is in the 
second class, its sheriff receives $3,000 instead of the regular 
salary of $2,700 in other counties of that class. 

A reclassification of counties on the above basis is made 
by the State auditor in January after each presidential 
election (192 1, 1925, 1929, etc.), on which the salary 
schedule will be based for the next four years. 

403. The Board of County Commissioners. — The old 
prefect system of county government in use here in Mexican 
times, which put the government of the counties largely 
under the control of the governor's appointees (sec. 150), 
was continued during the first thirty years of the American 
period. But in 1876, the same year in which the Anglo- 
American Common Law was adopted (sec. 352), the prefect 
system was abolished and the more democratic Ameircan 
board of county commissioners put in its place. The 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT 333 

board consists of three members and holds four regular 
sessions each year and such special sessions as the county 
business may require. 

Like most other county officers, the board of county 
commissioners has primarily executive duties to perform. 
Its chief work lies in carrying out the general laws of the 
State within the county. It is also a sort of county legis- 
lature with power (a) to levy county taxes and authorize 
the spending of county money, and (b) to provide for the 
building and repair of county roads, bridges, courthouses, 
jails, and other county buildings. It also serves as the 
canvassing board to make the official count of the votes 
of the county in every election. 

404. County Judicial Officers. — The functions of the 
county probate judge (sec. 379) in the handling of wills, 
the settling up of estates, and the guardianship of orphan 
children ; and the jurisdiction of the justice of the peace 
(sec. 380) in each precinct over minor civil suits and petty 
criminal offenses have been explained in the chapter on The 
Courts of the State. 

One important duty of the justice of the peace, however, 
remains to be considered — the holding of an inquest 
(hearing or inquiry) over any person found dead in his 
precinct. Whenever any person is found dead under 
conditions which indicate that the death may have been the 
result of crime, or which are even open to suspicion, it 
is the duty of the local justice of the peace to summon a 
special jury of inquest (commonly known as a coroner's 
jury) composed of six citizens of the precinct to assist him 
in investigating all the circumstances that may throw any 
light on the cause of the death. This is not a trial jury, 
but a special sort of grand jury with only a single case to 



334 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

investigate. It may summon witnesses and compel them to 
give evidence. If it finds evidence pointing to some person 
or persons as having probably committed the crime, it draws 
up a written verdict to that effect. A warrant will then be 
issued and the accused persons arrested and held for investi- 
gation by the grand jury. 

The constable is a peace officer of the precinct with duties 
similar to those of the sheriff in the whole county. On 
the direction of the justice of the peace he arrests persons 
accused of crime, summons witnesses and jurors, and 
carries out other orders of the justice's court. Justices of 
the peace and constables receive such fees as are prescribed 
by law, but no regular salary. 

405. County School Officers. — The powers and duties 
of the county board of education, the county superintend- 
ent of public instruction, and the district boards of school 
directors have been discussed in the chapter on The Public 
School System (sees. 390-392) and do not need to be re- 
peated here. 

406. County Financial Officers. — The assessor's busi- 
ness is to get all of the taxable property in the county 
on the tax rolls at a fair valuation so that every man may 
bear his just share of the expense of government. It is 
then the duty of the treasurer, who is ex officio collector, 
to collect all taxes, have the care and keeping of all county 
funds, and to pay out public money only on the authority 
of the county commissioners or the county board of educa- 
tion, or as otherwise provided by law. If the treasurer fails 
to collect part of the taxes, that throws a heavier burden 
on those who do pay and is as unjust as if the assessor had 
made an unfair valuation of their property. The county 
treasurer collects not only the county and district taxes, 
but also the county's portion of the State tax. 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT 335 

407. The Sheriff. — The leading peace officer of each 
county is the sheriff, whose duty it is (i) to arrest and 
bring into court all persons accused of crime ; (2) to summon 
persons wanted in court as witnesses, jurymen, or for any 
other purpose ; (3) to hold prisoners in the county jail or 
take them to the State penitentiary as required by law or 
by the orders of the court; (4) to sell the property of 
persons who refuse to pay fines or costs according to the 
orders of the courts or to pay their taxes ; (5) to carry out 
all other orders of the courts ; and (6) to keep the peace, 
that is, to suppress all disorder and disturbance without 
waiting for any court to act. In the performance, of these 
duties he may have regular deputies to assist him and may 
use force if necessary, even to the extent of calling out all 
the citizens of the county to assist him in the enforcement 
of the law. 

408. The County Clerk. — All county officers have 
occasion to keep records of their own official actions ; 
but the county clerk is the county's official recorder and 
keeper of public records. 

1. He must keep a complete record of all deeds, mort- 
gages, and other important legal papers which the law 
requires to be a matter of public record. 

2. He issues marriage licenses and records certificates of 
marriage ceremonies. 

3. He is ex officio clerk of the district court for his 
county. In this capacity he keeps a full and complete 
record of all business transacted by the district court in 
his county, records all judgments and decrees of the court 
and prepares the docket, or official list of cases, for each 
session. 

4. He is ex officio clerk of the probate court and the 



336 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

juvenile court of the county, with duties similar to those in 
connection with the district court. 

5. He is ex officio clerk of the board of county com- 
missioners and keeps their seal, makes up the minutes 
of each meeting, keeps all their books and records, and 
signs every order of the board for the payment of public 
money. 

6. Because he is the keeper of all these public records 
he is also the proper officer to furnish official copies of any 
of them. 

409. The County Surveyor. — The official surveys of 
all lands and boundary lines in the county ordered by the 
county commissioner thing are made by the county surveyor. 

410. Election and Term of Office. — The American 
principle of " rotation in office " has been carried to the 
extreme in New Mexico. County officers are elected at 
the general election in November of the even-numbered 
years and serve for a term of two years, beginning the first 
day of the following January. After serving two consecu- 
tive terms they are not eligible to hold any county office 
for the next two years. Justices of the peace and con- 
stables (precinct officers) are elected on the first Monday 
in January of each odd-numbered year and serve two years, 
beginning the first Monday in February. 

411. Filling Vacancies. — A vacancy in the office of 
county commissioner is filled by the governor's appoint- 
ment for the unexpired term. The county commissioners 
fill all vacancies that occur in any other county or precinct 
offices. This of course does not apply to members of the 
legislature, who are not county, but district, officers (sec. 
34o). 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT 337 

REFERENCES 

J. A. Fairlee, Local Government in Counties, Towns, and Villages ("Ameri- 
can State" Series), 3-137. 

W. B. Munro, The Government of the United States, 535-559. 

QUESTIONS FOR DEBATE 

Resolved, That the southern county type of government was better suited 
to New Mexican conditions than the New England township system. 

Resolved, That the term of county officers should be lengthened to four 
years. 

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT 

1. From what two sources is our county type of local government de- 
rived? How was it influenced by geography? 

2. What are the functions of county government? How are the coun- 
ties classified ? 

3. Name your county officers and give the duties and salary of each. 

4. If a man is found dead by the roadside, what official action will be 
taken? May the grand jury have anything to do with the case? The 
petit jury? Why? 

5. What changes can you suggest to improve county government? 



CHAPTER XXIV 
CITIES, TOWNS, AND VILLAGES 

412. Municipal Government. — When the people in a 
compact and thickly settled district organize themselves 
for the better control of their local affairs under the pro- 
visions of State law, we call the new organization an in- 
corporated village, town, or city — or a municipal corpora- 
tion. The object of these municipal corporations is to 
furnish more effective control over the common interests 
of the community than can be secured through the ordi- 
nary county government. Streets need to be laid out and 
improved, sewer systems and sanitary regulations must 
be provided, water and light plants are needed, and better 
schools are desired. All these things call for more common 
activity, more local regulation, the raising of more money 
by local taxation, and the employment of more officers. 
To carry out these common undertakings villages, towns, 
and cities are incorporated. 

413. Towns and Villages. — Any community of a hun- 
dred and fifty or more people living in an area of not less 
than forty acres nor more than nine square miles may 
organize as an incorporated village under a board of six 
trustees composed of a mayor, a clerk, or recorder, and 
four other trustees elected from the village at large for 
a term of two years. The trustees may also provide by an 
ordinance for the election of a marshal, treasurer, and 
such other officers as are needed. If the entire village is in 

338 



CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES 339 

one precinct, the justice of the peace of that precinct 
will be the judge before whom all violations of local ordi- 
nances will be tried. If it is in more than one precinct, 
the town board of trustees may designate one justice of 
the peace to try all offenders. 

When an incorporated village reaches a population of 
five hundred, it has all the powers and privileges of an 
incorporated town without the necessity for reincorporating. 
When the population numbers fifteen hundred, it may in- 
corporate as a town. 

The board of trustees in a town or village is the legisla- 
tive body which passes all rules and ordinances for the 
local government. The mayor presides at all meetings, 
votes on all questions, appoints all non-elective officers 
with the consent of the trustees, and designates the em- 
ployees to perform particular duties. The town clerk 
has no vote but keeps an accurate record of all business 
transacted and all rules and ordinances passed by the 
trustees. 

414. Method of Incorporation. — Prior to 1884 any town 
in New Mexico that wanted to incorporate had to secure 
its charter by a special act of the legislature. As late as 
1876 there were only three such incorporated places in the 
Territory. That method was very difficult : everything 
hinged on political favor. Hence, just as a general law 
for the organization of business corporations had taken 
the place of the old special-act plan in 1876 (sec. 368), so 
in 1884 a general municipal corporation law was passed, 
under which any place meeting the legal requirements 
might incorporate as a village, town, or city. That law 
with some amendments is still in force. 

The process of incorporation as a town or village is 



34° THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

very simple. A petition (signed by half the voters for 
a village, and by two hundred for a town or city) is pre- 
sented to the county clerk; the county commissioners 
then order a special election ; and the result of the election 
settles the question of incorporation. 

415. Cities. — Any town or village having a population 
of three thousand may become an incorporated city. Or, 
when its population reaches two thousand, the board of 
trustees may petition the governor to proclaim it a city ; 
and on the issuance of such proclamation by the governor 
the place becomes a city without waiting to reach the 
three thousand population ordinarily required for the 
organization of a city government. 

416. City Government. — The city council is composed 
of a mayor elected from the city at large and four aldermen 
elected one from each of the four wards into which the city 
is divided. The aldermen are elected for a term of four 
years ; the mayor, city clerk, and treasurer, for two years. 
The council (mayor and aldermen) passes all ordinances for 
the government of the city. The mayor has no vote except 
in case of a tie, when he has a casting vote to break the 
tie. He may veto any ordinance, but it may then be 
passed over his veto by a two-thirds vote of the council. 
He appoints, with the consent of the council, all appointive 
officers of the city, such as marshal, police, city attorney, 
and others. He must also sign all commissions, licenses, 
and permits of every kind granted by the council. 

The city council appoints one of the justices of the 
peace in the city as police judge. In his court all persons 
who violate the city ordinances are tried. He may punish 
offenders by a fine and imprisonment or both, provided 
that the imprisonment shall not be for a longer period 



CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES 341 

than ninety days nor the fine more than $200. But an 
appeal may be taken from any decision of the police judge 
to the district court. 

417. Filling Vacancies. — If the office of mayor in a 
city, town, or village becomes vacant, the council or trustees 
fill it by appointment until the next municipal election. 
If there is a vacancy in the council or board of trustees, 
the mayor fills it by appointment with the consent of the 
other members, until the next municipal election. In 
cities having the commission form of government (sec. 419) 
a vacancy in the office of mayor or member of the com- 
mission is filled by the remaining members of the com- 
mission. 

418. Municipal Elections. — In order to eliminate par- 
tisan politics as much as possible from city, town, and 
village elections they are not held at the time of the general 
election in November, but on the first Tuesday in April 
of the even-numbered years. The newly elected officers 
go into office on the first Monday in May following. 

419. Commission Form of Government. — There are so 
many elective officers in cities and towns, each more or 
less independent of the other, that it is very difficult for 
the public to fix the responsibility for bad government. 
One remedy for this is to have few elective officials and 
hold them responsible for the entire government of the 
city — the principle of the "short ballot." 

The legislature of 1913 authorized any city, town, or 
village in the State to adopt a commission form of govern- 
ment with an elective commission composed of a mayor and 
two commissioners chosen for a term of two years, with 
power to appoint and remove at will all administrative 
officers — clerk, attorney, treasurer, engineer, physician. 



342 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

marshal, and others. This would fix responsibility defi- 
nitely on the three commissioners and give them complete 
control over their subordinates. Then in 191 7 the legisla- 
ture went a step further and authorized cities having a 
population of ten thousand to adopt a charter providing 
any sort of government they desire so long as it is in con- 
formity with the constitution. 

420. Commission-Manager Government. — In 191 9, at 
the request of the city of Albuquerque, the legislature 
passed a general statute authorizing and controlling the 
commission-manager form of government for cities of ten 
thousand inhabitants. 

The commission consists of five commissioners chosen 
from five districts into which the city is divided, but voted 
for by the whole city, the ballot containing the names of all 
candidates from each district without any party designa- 
tion. They are chosen for terms of four years and serve 
without pay. Two are elected at one election and three 
at the next. The city election must not be on general 
election day in November. This commission elects one of 
its number mayor for a term of two years. They pass all 
ordinances for the government of the city, designate a 
justice of the peace as police judge, employ a manager 
to run the government, and fill vacancies in the commission 
by appointment until the next city election. 

Finally, in 1921, the legislature authorized cities having 
from 3,000 to 10,000 population to adopt the commission- 
manager form of government with a commission of three 
elected by the city at large from the three districts into 
which it is divided for that purpose. They are elected 
on the second Monday in January of each odd-numbered 
year for a term of two years. In all other respects the 



CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES 343 

government of these cities is like that of a commission- 
manager city with over 10,000 population. 

The city manager employed by the commission is the 
actual executive head of the whole city government. He 
is chosen without reference to politics, but solely because 
of his training, executive ability, and fitness for handling 
the complex problems of governing a modern city. Into 
his hands is placed practically absolute power over every 
department of the city's affairs, subject only to general 
ordinances and the public law of the State. He employs 
all officers and has full power to dismiss them. If he has 
incompetent men in charge of the police department, fire 
department, or any other division of the government, 
he is responsible, and the commission and the general 
public know it. 

421. Initiative, Referendum, and Recall. — Cities of 
10,000 population having the commission-manager form of 
government may use the newest devices of democratic con- 
trol over their affairs — the initiative, referendum, and 
recall. 

If the people wish a certain ordinance passed and the 
commission refuses to do it, they may propose it by an 
initiative petition signed by twenty per cent of the voters, 
compelling the commission to pass the ordinance or submit 
it to a popular vote. 

Ordinances passed by the commission are also subject 
to a popular referendum. They ordinarily go into effect 
thirty days after passage, but may be suspended until 
approved by popular vote if a petition asking for such 
referendum is signed by twenty per cent of the voters. 

The recall applies to all elective officers of the city. 
If fifteen per cent of the voters sign a petition for the recall 



344 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

of a commissioner, a recall election must be held. If the 
majority of votes cast at such election is for recalling him, 
he is dismissed from office and the vacancy filled by the 
remaining commissioners until the next city election. 
Otherwise, he continues in office. 

REFERENCES 

J. A. Fairlie, Local Government in Counties, Towns, and Villages (" Ameri- 
can State" Series), 141-212. 

F. J. Good now, City Government in the United States ("American State" 
Series). 

W. B. Munro, The Government of the United States, 560-635. 

W. B. Munro, The Government of American Cities. 

QUESTIONS FOR DEBATE 

Resolved, That the commission-manager form of city government is 
superior to that by mayor and aldermen. 

Resolved, That the constitution should be so amended as to apply the re- 
call to all elective officers of the State and county governments. 

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT 

1. Why do communities desire to incorporate themselves as towns and 
cities ? 

2. What is the process of incorporation? Why was the old method 
bad? 

3. How are cities and towns governed? Why are municipal elections 
not held with the general elections? 

4. What are the advantages of the commission form of city government ? 
Of the commission-manager form? 

5. Were the laws of 1917 and iqiq (sees. 419, 420) " special legislation " 
(sec. 343) for the city of Albuquerque, though in the form of general statutes? 
No other city had 10,000 population. What change was made in 192 1 ? 

6. What is the purpose of the initiative? The referendum? The re- 
call? 



CHAPTER XXV 

PENAL AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS 

I. PENAL INSTITUTIONS 

422. The State Penitentiary. — The oldest of the State's 
penal and charitable institutions is the penitentiary at 
Santa Fe, founded in 1882 to take proper care of a new 
and increasing element of " hard characters " that drifted 
in with the railroads in the early eighties and some who 
were already here and in need of more secure quarters. 

The penitentiary is in charge of a superintendent 
appointed by the governor with the approval of the senate 
and serving for a term of two years at an annual salary 
of $2,400. The general policy of the institution is under 
the direction of a board of five penitentiary commissioners 
appointed by the governor, with the consent of the senate, 
for a term of four years. Not more than three of them 
may belong to the same political party. 

423. Punishment and Reformation. — Under the con- 
stitution (Art. XX, Sec. 15), "The penitentiary is a 
reformatory and an industrial school " as well as an institu- 
tion for the punishment of crime. Blacksmi thing, brick- 
making, the manufacture of shoes and clothing, and other 
trades are taught in the penitentiary and regularly fol- 
lowed by the convicts. Such products of these industries 
as are not used in the institution are sold to the highest 
bidder and the proceeds applied toward the running ex- 

345 



34^ THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

penses, except that the net earnings of a prisoner who has a 
dependent family are paid over to the family for their sup- 
port. No convicts can be leased or hired out to work for 
private individuals or corporations. They must be at all 
times under public supervision and control by penitentiary 
officers. A premium is set on good conduct and habits of 
steady work and obedience to prison regulations by the 
provision of law which allows a prisoner to shorten his term 
of service by good behavior. 

This is as far as the law has gone in mitigating the hard- 
ships of prison life, and is probably as far as it ought to 
go for the present. It provides a just and humane prison 
system without adopting any of the " soft fads " of senti- 
mental reformers. And we must not lose sight of the 
fundamental fact that the protection of society through 
punishment or the fear of punishment is one of the prime 
objects of a prison system. Take away that fear and crime 
will multiply. 

The county jail is a place for the serving of short sentences 
imposed for minor offenses and for holding offenders to 
await trial. 

424. The State Reform School. — The convicts in the 
county jails and the penitentiary are chiefly people grown 
up and mature, many of them hardened criminals; and 
these institutions are organized on that basis. They are, 
therefore, wholly unsuited for the imprisonment of mere 
youths who have been convicted of first offenses, if there 
is to be any prospect of reforming the offenders and restor- 
ing them to useful citizenship. Such a work must be done 
under a different environment and by a different sort of 
institution. 

To meet this need the legislature of 1903 authorized the 



PENAL AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS 347 

establishment of a Reform School for the " confinement, 
instruction, and reformation of juvenile offenders against 
the laws of the State," who are under eighteen years of age 
and have been convicted of any offense less than a felony 
punishable with life imprisonment in the penitentiary. 

The school was actually established at Springer in 
1909, and young persons of idle, vicious, or vagrant habits, 
as well as those actually convicted of crime, may be sent 
to it. Here moral and industrial education, rather than 
punishment, is the chief aim. The end in view is to take 
boys who have started wrong in life and reeducate them 
for good citizenship. Actual imprisonment — for the 
school is also a prison — is only incidental, a means to 
the prime aim of reformation. And it is imprisonment 
under conditions of development and growth. 

The Reform School is under the general control of a 
board of five trustees appointed by the governor under the 
same general conditions as the board of penitentiary 
commissioners (sec. 422). The active management of the 
school is in the hands of a trained superintendent, who 
is an expert in the handling and training of delinquent 
boys and in the best practices of modern reform. 

425. The Girls' Welfare Home. — The State Reform 
School at Springer as originally created was intended to 
care for both boys and girls ; but it was not feasible to 
handle the unruly elements of both sexes in the same 
institution, and the Reform School became in practice an 
institution for delinquent boys, leaving delinquent girls 
not provided for. 

To meet this situation the legislature of 191 9 created 
a Girls' Welfare Board composed of five women appointed 
by the governor, with the approval of the senate, for a term 



34-8 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

of two years, to have charge of all girls under the age of 
eighteen years committed to their care by the district 
courts. This board established a State Girls' Welfare 
Home in Albuquerque to receive and train such girls. In 
this home they are wards of the court and subject to its orders. 

Girls under eighteen convicted of crime are sent to 
the home as a matter of course ; but conviction of crime is 
not a necessary condition. If a girl has the reputation of 
being unmanageable and keeping bad company, or of being 
one " who habitually violates the compulsory school law," 
the district court may commit her to the charge of the 
Welfare Board for training. 

All misdemeanors by girls under eighteen are tried by 
the district courts and all preliminary hearings for more 
serious offenses by such girls are held before district judges 
as committing magistrates, instead of before justices 
of the peace, as would ordinarily be the case. The intent 
of the law in this respect is plainly to guarantee that every 
girl accused of crime or bad conduct shall have her hearing 
or trial in a dignified and orderly court. 

II. CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS 

426. Asylum for the Insane. — As the penitentiary at 
Santa Fe was the first of the State's penal institutions, so 
the asylum for the insane at Las Vegas, founded in 1889, 
was the first of the charitable institutions. The object 
of the asylum is to provide care and medical treatment 
free of charge for all the insane poor of the State. It is 
a hospital for those who are sick in mind. Residents of 
other States who become insane while in New Mexico may 
be cared for in the asylum when there is room to accommo- 
date them; but if it is crowded, residents of this State 
are properly given the preference. 



PENAL AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS 349 

The asylum is controlled by a board of five directors, 
not more than three from the same political party, appointed 
by the governor, with the consent of the senate, for a term 
of four years. This board selects a medical superintendent 
who has active charge and management under the general 
rules and regulations prescribed by the board. 

427. Miners' Hospital. — The legislature of 1903 estab- 
lished a hospital at Raton for the special purpose of pro- 
viding free treatment and care for injured miners who 
are unable to pay for proper hospital treatment. To others 
the facilities of the hospital are available at cost. It 
is managed by a board of trustees appointed in the same 
way, and having the same powers and duties as the trustees 
of the asylum for the insane (sec. 426). 

428. The Orphans' Home. — In 1884, before the Terri- 
tory had established any public charitable institutions of 
its own, the Territorial legislature adopted the Asylum of 
the Sisters of Charity at Santa Fe as the New Mexico 
Orphans' Home and Industrial School under the control of 
a board of supervisors consisting of the archbishop, the 
governor, the attorney general, the chief justice of the 
Supreme Court, and the hospital physician. It was given 
support from the public treasury and in turn must receive, 
care for, and educate orphan and dependent children and 
use its influence to get them properly placed in homes. 

This arrangement would have been terminated by the 
general provision of the State constitution forbidding the 
payment of public money to any charitable or educational 
institution " not under the absolute control of the State," 
if an exception had not been made in favor of those institu- 
tions which received an appropriation from the last Terri- 
torial legislature (1909). That exception also made possible 



350 THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW MEXICO 

the giving of some public support to the Children's Home 
Society at Albuquerque and about a dozen other private 
hospitals and schools. 

429. Charity and Education. — The Asylum for the Deaf 
and Dumb at Santa Fe, and the Institute for the Blind at 
Alamogordo, both founded in 1903, are on the border line 
between public charity and public education, but should be 
classed as belonging primarily to the field of education. 
The reason is obvious : they do not provide care for people 
of all ages ; but they provide for the education or reeducation 
of children of school age who are unfortunate enough to have 
lost the power of sight, hearing, or speech. In other words, 
they are schools investing public money in the training 
of unfortunate classes of children for useful citizenship. 

REFERENCES 

Constitution of New Mexico, Art. XIV, Public Institutions. 
J. A. Fairlie, Local Government in Counties, Towns, and Villages (" Ameri- 
can State" Series), 225-236. 

QUESTION FOR DEBATE 

Resolved, That the trials of offenders under eighteen years of age should 
not be open to the public. 

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT 

1. What are the purposes of State prisons? Are they more necessary 
in a new frontier State than in a better developed region? Why? 

2. Why should boys be sent to the State Reform School only as a 
last resort? 

3. What is the object of the Girls' Welfare Home? What girls may 
be sent to it? 

4. Why should the Asylum for the Insane be called a hospital? 

5. Show the value of the Orphans' Home and the Children's Home 
Society. 



NOTE ON PRONUNCIATION 

Spanish and other foreign proper names are pronounced once 
where they first appear in the text. The section in which the 
pronunciation appears is indicated in the Index by figures in 
parentheses. For example, "Abiquiu, (101)" means that the 
pronunciation of that name will be found in section 101. 

The sound of Spanish d is ordinarily that the English th in 
that (d pronounced with the tip of the tongue touching the upper 
front teeth) ; after / and n and at the beginning a breath-group, 
however, it approximates English d. In Spanish America, as in 
southern Spain and the Philippines, c (before e and i) and z are 
pronounced like English s; and // equals iy in sound. These 
pronunciations are regularly used in the text because they are the 
standard usage in New Mexico and the Southwest. In indicating 
pronunciations in this book y is always sounded as in yet; never 
as in my. In names having two pronunciations, the Spanish has 
been given for the reason that the Anglicized form can be more 
easily found elsewhere. 

INDEX 



References are to sections. 



Abbott, E. C, 300 

Abiquiu, (101) 

Abo, Onate at, 55 

Abolitionists, 153 

Acoma, (5); Alvarado at, 25; Coronado 
at, 32; Espejo at, 41; Beltran at, 42; 
Onate at, 55; revolt of, 56; punish- 
ment of, 57; 87 

Adobe, (5) 

Age of Discovery, 10 

Agricultural College, 259, 261, 263; 
created, 269; devolpment of, 270; 
272, 273, 279, 303, 305 

Agricultural experiment station, 270, 
370 

Agriculture, prehistoric, 7; 91; chief 
crops, 115; 116, 145; oldest industry, 
239; Pueblo, 239; large-scale, 239; 
chief industry, 245 



Aguatuvi, (92) 

Agustin, (37) 

Aisne, battle of, (302) 

Alabama, 3 

Albino, (135) 

Albuquerque, (46); settled, 90; popula- 
tion, 91, 119; 165; military head- 
quarters, 192; captured by Confed- 
erates, 207, 208; skirmish at, 209; 
railroad at, 224 

Albuquerque Academy, 252, 271 

Albuquerque Public Library, 271 

Alburquerque, Duke of, 90 

Alcalde, (121) 

Alencastre, Joaquin, takes Pike 
prisoner, (112) 

Almaden, (46) 

Alonso, (15) 

Altitude, 2 



35i 



352 



INDEX 



References are to sections. 



Alvarado, Pedro de, goes to eastern 

plains, (25), 34 
Alvarez, Manuel, (182) 
Amendment of State constitution, 312 
American colonists, 107 
American Fur Company, 114 
American market, influence of, 145 
American Occupation, 5, 11, 133, 147, 

152-169, 185, 193, 201, 251, 352 
American pioneers, 4, 11, 107, 132; 

influence of, 133; 187 
American Revolution, 107, 319 
Americans, first in Santa Fe, 113; 
opposition to, 134; in Texas-Santa 
Fe Expedition, 140, 141; mistreat- 
ment of, 152; the name, 161 
American West, pioneering spirit ot, 

124, 126 
Ampudia, general, (154) 
Anarchy in Mexico, 152, 294 
Andalucia, Nueva, name given New 

Mexico by Espejo, (44) 
Andres, (15) 

Anti-slavery agitation, 178, 190 
Anton Chico, (139); battle at, 175 
Anza, Juan Bautista de, governor, 
expedition to California, (102), 103 
Apaches, (4); habits and customs, 9, 
215; Joseph among, 47; 53, 71; hos- 
tility, 77, 78, 81, 92, 93, 100; popula- 
tion, 143; raids, 143; warfare, 214-216 
Apache Canyon, 4, 28, 55, 105, 129; 
front door, 145; Armijo at, 160, 170; 
Kearny at, 161; battle of, 208 
Apachu, (9) 

Appalachian Mountains, 107 
Appellate jurisdiction, 372, 377 
Archaeological Institute of America, 

275 
Archeveque, Jean de 1', (94), 95 
Arellano, (29) 

Arizona, 5; Niza in, 20; Tovar and 
Cardenas in, 24; Coronado in, 33; 
Espejo in, 41; Farfan in, 55; crossed 
by Onate, 61; trade route to, 74; 
Pattie in, 125; settlements, 202; Con- 
federate "Territory," 204; Con- 
federate conquest of, 206; delegate 
to Confederate Congress, 206; Ter- 
ritory organized, 211; Rough 



Riders, 280; 281, 282; joint state- 
hood proposed, 283-284 

Arkansas, 128 

Arkansas River, drainage area, 2; 
natural highway, 4; crossed by 
Coronado, 30; Humana and Bonilla 
on, 47; Onate on, 59; 71, 75, 95 
Mallet party on, 97; Vial on, 105 
English on, 107; 109; Melgares on 
110; Pike on, 111; Purcell on, 113 
trade route, 114, 128; boundary, 129 
181; raiders on, 142; Kearny on, 158 
followed by railroad, 224 

Armijo, Manuel, (135), 136, 137, 138, 
140, 142, 159, 160, 170 

Army of the Center, 156, 166 

Army of Occupation, 154, 157 

Army of the West, 156 

Arriba, (150) 

Artesia, 241 

Artesian wells, 241 

Artillery, 146th, 300 

Assembly, freedom of, 315, 317 

Assessor, 406 

Atlantic, 55; slope, 107 

Attendance, compulsory, 396 

Attorney general, 365 

Audiencia, (100), 121 

Auditor, State, 363; traveling, 369 

Auguste, (114) 

Austin, Texas, 139 

Austria, war with, 298-307 

Ayuntamiento, (150) 

Aztec, kingdom conquered, (13) 

Baca, Alonso, northeastern expedi- 
tion, 71 

Baca, Antonio Jose, 131 

Baca, Bartolome, 126, 130 

Baca, Jose Maria, 147 

Bail bond, 315 

Baird, James, 114 

Bank examiner, 369 

Baptiste, (113) 

Baptists, 252 

Barter, 117 

Bartolome, (37) 

Baylor, John R., 203, 204, 306 

Battery A, 300, 303 

Bautista, (45) 

Bear Spring, treaty with Navajos, 166 



INDEX 



353 



References are to sections. 



Beaubien, Charles, (132), 163 

Becknell, William, 124, 127, 128 

Belen, 144 

Belen Cut-Off, 249 

Belleau Wood, battle of, (302), 303 

Beltran, Bernaldino, (40), 42 

Benavides, Alonso, {66), 67, 71 

Ben Hur, 219 

Bent, Charles, 132, 163, 172, 176 

Bent's Fort, 128; Kearny at, 158; 160, 
226 

Benton, Thomas H., 130 

Bernaldino, (40) 

Bernalillo, Alvarado at, (25); Rodri- 
guez at, 37; settled, 90 

Bernalillo County, created, 187; high 
school established, 265 

Bienville, (97) 

Bigamy, explained, 318 

Big- Four regiment, 281 

Bigotes, (25) 

Bill of attainder, 314, 315; explained, 
320 

Bill of Rights, in Kearny Code, 164; 
in State Constitution, 311, 315, 316- 
322, 323; Federal, 314 

Bill Williams Fork, Espejo on, 41 

Billy the Kid, 219 

Blue-ballot amendment, 288, 289 

Board of education, State, 388, 395; 
county, 390 

Bolton, Herbert E., cited, 63 

Bonilla, (47) 

Bonney, William H., 219 

Boone, Daniel, moves westward, 108 

Boonesboro, Kentucky, 108 

Booneville, Missouri, 108 

Boonville, North Carolina, 108 

Bosque Redondo, (213), 214 

Boundaries of New Mexico, constitu- 
tion of 1850, 181 

Boundary dispute with Texas, 139, 
178; settled, 189 

Boyd, Nathan E., 246 

Brazito, battle of, (167) 

Brazos River, Coronado on, (28), 29, 
30; traders on, 75; Mares on, 103 

British, 301 

Buena Vista, battle of, (177) 

Buffalo, 7; described by Vaca, 15 



Burros, 115 

Burrus, 277 

Butterfield, John, 199 

Butterfield Overland Stage, 120, 199. 
221, 226 

Caballeros, (52) 

Cabildo, (63) 

Cachupin, governor, (106) 

Cajon Pass, (131) 

Calhoun, James S., first Territorial 
governor, 186, 187, 190, 191 

Calhoun, John C, 186 

California, 100, 101; trade with, 118, 
127; trails to, 131; Americans flee to, 
142; Americanization of, 155; con- 
quest of, 165; Kearny goes to, 165; 
ceded to United States, 177; becomes 
a State, 197; communication with, 
197; road to, 221 

"California Column," 206, 209 

Campaigns, political, 324-327; ex- 
penses, 326 

Camp Churchman, Georgia, 281 

Camp Funston (Albuquerque), 298 

Camp Greene, North Carolina, 300 

Camp Kearny, California, 300 

Campo, Andres del, (34) 

Canada, (55) 

Canadian River, drainage area, 2; 
natural highway, 4; Onate on, 59; 
Zaldivar on, 55; Mallet party on, 
97; Vial on, 103; Melgares on, 110; 
128 

Canadians, 132 

Canby, E. R. S., 205, 207, 208, 209 

Cano, Francisco del, (36) 

Capital, San Juan, first, 52; San 
Gabriel, second, 58; Santa Fe, third, 
63; El Paso, fourth, 82 

Caravan to Mexico City, 91 

Cardenas, Garcia Lopez de, discovers 
the Grand Canyon, (24) 

Carleton, James H., 209, 213 

Carlsbad, railroad at, 240; irrigation 
project, 246, 370 

Carson, Kit, 132, 133; guides Kearny 
to California, 165; 209 

Carolinas, 3 

Carrizozo, 289 

Casas Grandes, 36 



354 



INDEX 



References are to sections. 



Casilda, (43) 

Castaiieda, Pedro de, (8) 

Castano, (46) 

Castillo, (15) 

Catholic schools, modern, 251 

Catron County, 232; silver and copper 

in, 237 
Cattle, 7, 15 
Cattle boom, 231 
"Cattle Kings," 231 
Cattle raising, 115, 116, 231, 239 
Cavalry, 13th United States, ^y4 
Caypa, renamed San Juan, (52) 
Central America, 13, 17 
Central Empires, war with, 298-307. 
Cerrillos. See Los Cerrillos 
Chama River, Escalante on, 101 
Chambers, Samuel, 114 
Chamuscado, Francisco Sanchez, with 

Rodriguez expedition, (37), 39 
Chapuis, Jean, expedition to Santa 

Fe, (97) 
Charitable institutions, 426-429 
Charity and education, 429 
Chateau Thierry, battle of, (300), 302, 

303 
Chaves, Amado, 261 
Chaves, Antonio Jose, murdered, 142 
Chaves, Francisco Xavier, (123) 
Chaves, Manuel, 174, 208 
Chaves, Pablo, 175 
Chaves County, 232 
Chelly Canyon, (213) 
Chihuahua, (9), 100, 110; Pike at, 

112; American prisoners in, 114; 

fairs, 115, 118, 127; 158; trail to, 144; 

conquest of, 156, 166, 168, 182; cattle 

and sheep market, 229 
Chihuahua state, settlement of, 35; 

Ibarra in, 36; claim to southern 

New Mexico, 196 
Children's Home Society, 428 
Child welfare bureau, 399 
Chile, (7) 

Chisum, John S., 231 
Chivington, Major, 208 
Chouteau, Auguste P., (114) 
Christian Brothers, 251 
Christian missionaries, with Coro- 

nado, 34 
Christmas, first in New Mexico, 56, 57 



Church, 53, 71, 83 

Cibola, Seven Cities of, (20) 

Cicuye (Pecos), Alvarado at, (25) ; 
missionaries at, 34; Espejo at, 42; 
Sosa at, 46 

Cimarron Cut-Off, (31), 105, 124, 128 

Cimarron River, 129 

Cities, schools, 394; organization, 415; 
officers, 416; elections, 418; manager, 
420; government, 416-421 

Citizenship, promised by Kearny, 162; 
by treaty, 177; duties of, 327; State 
and National, 333 

Civil cases, trial of, 382 

Civil Law, Spanish-Mexican, 352 

Civil law, 381 

Civil rights, explained, 315 

Civil War, 137; changes Pacific rail- 
road plans, 200; in New Mexico, 
201-211; Union plans, 205; Con- 
federate plans, 202-204, 206-207; ef- 
fect of, 220 

Claims, American against Mexico, 
152, 177 

Classes of population, 149 

Classification of counties, 402 

Clerk, county, 408 

Cleveland, President, 216 

Cliff Dwellers, 5 

Climate, 3 

Clovis, 241 

Clovis country, Coronado in, 28 

Coahuila, (100), 102 

Coal, 237 

Cochiti, (87), 92 

Colfax county, disorders in, 218; coal 
and gold in, 237; 242; high school 
established, 265 

Collector, county, 406 

Colonization of New Mexico, pro- 
posals for, 45; attempt by Sosa, 46; 
by Onate, 52-58 

Colorado, Mallet party in, 97; Esca- 
lante in, 101; prospecting in, 106; 
128, 200; Territory organized, 211; 
co-operation with, 277; becomes 
State, 277 

Colorado River, drainage area, (2); 5 
Cardenas on, 24, Onate on, 61; 75 
Pattie on, 125; St. Vrain on, 125 
Kearny on, 165; boundary of New 
Mexico, 181 



INDEX 



355 



References are to sections. 



Colorado River of Texas, New 
Mexicans on, 72, 73; 75; Mares on, 
103 
Colorado Volunteers, 208 
Columbus, New Mexico, Villa raid 
on, 294; mobilization camp at, 296 
Comanches, 5, 9; from the east, 93; 
trouble with, 94, 95, 99, 100; French 
among, 97; Becknell among, 124 
Comandante, (100) 
Commanding general of the Interior 

Provinces, 100 
Commerce of New Mexico, Ameri- 
canized, 155 
Commerce and Industry, 116, 145, 192 
Commissioner of public lands, 367 
Commissioners, county, 403 
Commission form of government, 419 
Commission-manager government, 420 
Common Law, English, 352 
Compact with United States, 310, 311 
Compostela, Coronado at, (22) 
Compromise of 1850, 182 
Compulsory school law, 256 
Concha, Fernando, governor, (77) 
Conchos River, settlements on, (35): 
Rodriguez on, 37; Espejo on, 40, 42; 
Ofiate on, 50, 51 
Conejos River, Pike on (111) 
Confederacy, 200, 202, 206 
Confederates, occupy Mesilla, 203; 

retreat of, 209; 213 
Congregationalists, 252 
Congress, United States, 130 
Congressmen, election of, 329 
Connelly, Henry, 182, 201, 205 
Conquest of Mexico, 13 
Conquistadores, (17) 
Constable, 404 

Constitution, Mexican, of 1836, 135 
Constitutions, proposed, 181, 276, 278 
Constitution, State, ratification of, 
278; analysis of, 311. See also 
Amendments 
Constitution of United States, 187; 
prohibitions in, 314; bill of rights, 
314 
Continental Divide, crossed by Doni- 
phan, 166 
Conventions, of 1848 and 1849, 178; 
constitutional, of 1850, 181; of 1910, 
286; nominating, 324 



Cooke, Philip St. George, escorts 
traders' caravan, 142; with Kearny, 
160; wagon trail to California, 169 

Cooke's wagon road, 169; followed by 
Forty-niners, 194; by overland stage, 
199; by railroad, 226 

Copper, 234, 237 

Copper Mine Trail, 169 

Cordova, (40) 

Coronado, Francisco Vasquez, (5), 16; 
expedition to New Mexico, 22-33; at 
Zufii, 23, 24; first winter at Tiguex, 
26; in Texas, 28-30; in Kansas, 30; 
second winter at Tiguex, 31; re- 
turn to New Spain, 32; last days of, 
32; achievements of, 33; mission- 
aries with, 34; 35, 37, 39, 44, 48, 
59, 61, 62 

Coroner's jury, 404 

Corporation commission, State, 368 

Corpus Christi, 156 

Cortes, Spanish legislature, (121) 

Cortes, Hernando, (13), 49 

Cortes, Manuel, 172, 173, 175 

Council Grove, 129 

Council of Defense, State, 298, 299 

Counties, first, 187; classes of, 391; 
government, 185, 400-411; high 
schools, 265; courts, 379, 404; officers. 
402, 405, 410, 411 

Courts, Spanish and Mexican, 121, 150; 
State, 371-385; trial of cases, 382-385; 
Federal, 386. See also Justice of 
Peace, District, Supreme, County 

Court of Private Land Claims, 248 

Crepusculo, (147) 

Crime, 148, 218, 219, 228; punishment 
of, 423 

Criminal cases, trial of, 383 

Criminal law, 381 

Cristobal, (45) 

Croix, Teodoro de, (100) 

Crook, George H., 216 

Cruz, Juan de la, (34) 

Cuartelejo, (71) 

Cuba, 13, 15, 279; Rough Riders in, 
281 

Cuervo, Francisco, governor, (90) 

Culiacan, settled, (13); Vaca at, 14; 
Niza at, 19; Coronado at, 22 

Cumberland River, 107 



356 



INDEX 



References are to sections 

Cunningham, Francis A., 182 

Curry County, 244 

Curry, George, 291 

Cutter, 51 

Dairying, 233 

Damasio, (140) 

Dawson Railway, 249 

Deaf and Dumb, asylum for, 429 

DeBremond, Charles M., 303 

Defendant, 382 

Delaware, 1 

Delegate in Congress, 164, 178, 182, 187 

Deming, railroads at, 225 

Democrats, strength of, 282, 284, 286, 

289, 291, 327 
De Munn, Julius, (114) 
Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, 

225, 243 
De Soto, (15) 
Department, 135, 150 
Desperadoes, 218, 219, 228 
Destruction of records and churches, 

83 
De Vaca. See Vaca 
De Vargas. See Vargas 
Diaz, Porfirio, (294) 
Discovery, Age of, 10 
Discovery of New Mexico, 20 
"Disputed-territory" myth, 154 
Distilleries, 145 
Distribution of powers, 311 
District attorneys, 378 
District courts, 371, 376-378 
District judges, 378 
Districts, judicial, 376 
Dodge City, Kansas, Coronado at, 30; 

Vial at, 105; 129; cattle market, 229. 

231 
Dolores, (122) 
Domingo, (46) 
Dominguez, (73) 
Dominguez, Father, 101 
Dona Ana, 167, 195, 196 
Dona Ana County, created, 187; 

Gadsden Purchase annexed to, 198; 

disorders in, 218; copper in, 237 
Doniphan, A. W., Navajo campaign, 

166; Chihuahua campaign,. 167, 168, 



170 

Dorantes, Andres, (15) 
Drainage areas, New Mexico, 2 



Due process of law, 315 

Durango, 40, 168 

Easterners, 220, 276 

Eddy, Charles W., 241 

Eddy County, irrigation in, 241; high 
school established, 265 

Education and charity, 429 

Education, in Spanish period, 120; in 
Mexican period, 146, 147; of (vomen, 
250; Catholic schools, 251; Protestant 
schools, 252; public, early efforts, 
253-257; Congress neglectful of, 253; 
influence of railroads on, 258; im- 
portance to State, 258; Territorial 
board of, 261; industrial, 266; night 
schools, 267; State board of, 369; 
higher, 269-275. See also Public 
school system 

Educational Association, 259 

Educational institutions, higher, 
sketch of, 269-275; management of. 
398 

Educational opportunity, equality of. 
312 

El Caney, battle of, (281) 

El Crepusculo, (147) 

El Cuartelejo, (71); Villasur at, 95 



IbU; 



pro- 



Election, first State, 289, 291; 
duct of, 323-334 

Electoral College, Mexican, 
State, 329 

Elephant Butte Dam, 233, 246; 
ject, 370 

Elizabethtown gold mines, 237 

"Elkins handshake," 277 

Elkins, Stephen B., 277 

El Paso and Northeastern Railroad, 
249 

El Paso and Southwestern Railroad, 
249 

El Paso del Norte, 5, 37; Espejo at, 
40; Ofiate at, 51; settled, 70; be- 
comes capital, 81, 82; Vargas at, 
85, 86; population, 91, 119; trade 
with, 115, 118; Doniphan at, 168; 
railroad at, 225 

El Rito, normal school at, 274 

Emancipation Proclamation, 210 

Embudo, battle at, 174 

Emory, William H., 161, 195 

Enabling Act, 285, 310 



INDEX 



357 



References are to sections. 



Engineer, State, 369 

England, acquires eastern Louisiana, 
107; recognizes Texas, 154 

English, instrusions of, 107-109 

English kings, 319 

Englishmen, in Texas-Santa Fe Ex- 
pedition, 140 

Episcopalians, 252 

Escalante, Father, (101) 

Escalona, Luis de, (34) 

Espafiola, colony in Haiti, (12) 

Espejo, Antonio de, (40), 42, 44, 45, 
48, 61, 62 

Estufa, (6) 

European countries, recognition of 
Texas, 154 

Executive department, State govern- 
ment, 311, 355-369; lack of unity, 361 

Expansion, of New Spain, 35; spirit 
of, 155 

Exploration in fall of 1598, 55 

Exports, 118 

Ex post facto law, 314, 315; explained, 
321 

Express business, 200 

Facundo, (110) 

Fairs. See Taos, El Paso, Chihuahua 

Farfan, Marcos, in Arizona, (55), 61 

Farmington, railroad at, 243 

Febre, (97) 

Federal agencies, 370 

Federal courts, 386 

Federal vs. State government, 308, 
309 

Felipe, (90) 

Felony denned, 380, note 

Fergusson, Harvey B., 291 

Fernando, (77) 

Financial troubles, 188 

Firebrand River, 61 

Florida, Vaca in, 15; 281 

Flying squadrons, 92 

Foreigners, 293 

Forest service, 370 

Fort Belknap, 199 

Fort Bent. See Bent's Fort 

Fort Bliss, 203, 209 

Fort Breckinridge, 206 

Fort Buchanan, 206 

Fort Chadbourne, 199 

Fort Chartres, 97 



Fort Conrad, established, 192 

Fort Craig, 192, 206, 207, 208, 209, 212. 

Fort Definance, 192 

Fcrt Dodge, cattle market, 229, 231 

Fort Fillmore, 192, 203, 208 

Fort Leavenworth, Kearny at, 156; 
183; telegraph line from, 222; mili- 
tary base, 223 

Fort Marcy, 163, 170, 192, 207 

Fort Selden, 51, 92 

Fort Smith, 128 

Fort Stanton, 203, 215, 219 

Fort Sumner, 213, 214, 219 

Fort Thorne, 169 

Fort Union, established, 192; Con- 
federate objective, 206, 207, 208, 212 

Fort Webster, 192 

Fort Yuma, 206 

Fortieth Division, 300 

Forty-niners, 193, 194 

France, hears of New Mexico .mines, 
94; recognition of Texas, 154; Amer- 
ican forces in, 301, 302, 303 

Franciscan missionaries, 34, 37, 38, 
39, 51, 53, 64 . 

Franklin, Missouri, 127, 128 

"Free Silver," 236 

Freighting, overland, 129, 184, 193, 223 

Fremont, John C, 133, 165 . 

French, coming of, 4, 11, 94-97; among 
Kansas and Pawnees, 95; traders 
backed by government, 97; trade 
with, forbidden, 96, 117, 132 

French .and Indian War, 98 

Frontier, shifting, 35; widening of, 
71; exploration, 71-75; reorganiza- 
tion, 100; spirit, 106 

Frontiersmen, 71, 125 

Fruit growing, 243 

Fur trade, 125 

Gadsden, James, 198 

Gadsden Purchase for railway route, 
169; 197, 198, 211 

Galisteo, visited by Onate, (52); 79; 
ruined by Comanches, 93 

Galpin, 141 

Game, 7 

Garrett, Pat F., 219, 241 

Georgia, 3, 186 

German intrigue in Mexico, 296 

German prisoners captured, 304 



358 



INDEX 



References are to sections. 



Germany, war with, 298-307 
Geronimo, Apache chief, (216), 25b 
Gila Apaches, missions among, 74 
Gila country, trade route to, 74, 102 
Gila Trail, 131, 144, 169; followed by 

railroad, 226 
Gila River, (2); natural highway, 4; 

St. Vrain on, 125; route, 131; bound- 
ary of New Mexico, 181 
Gilpin, governor of Colorado, 205 
Glorieta, battle of, 208 
Gold, Lake of, 41; production, 235, 237 
Gonzales, Elias, 140 
Gonzales, Jose, (135), 136, 137, 141 
Good Hope, River ,of, 61 
Goss Military Institute, 373 
Goss, Robert S., 273 
Government, in Spanish period, 121; 

change of, 123; in Mexican period, 

150; provisional, organized by 

Kearny, 163. See also Territory, 

State, County 
Governor, Spanish, powers of, 121; 

Mexican, 150; veto, 348; appointing 

power, 357; judicial powers, 358; 

legislative functions, 359; messages, 

359 
"Granada" (Zufii), (23) 
Grand Canyon, discovered, 33; 

Escalante and Dominguez at, 101 
Grand jury, 385 
Grand River, Escalante on, 101 
Grant County, 232; gold, copper, and 

zinc in, 237 
Great Bend, Kansas, Vial at, 105 
Great Lakes, 33 

Great Salt Lake, 199, 200, 220 
Great Spring Drive, 300, 301, 302, 303 
Great War, New Mexico in, 298-307; 

effect on education, 267; numbers in, 

304; civilian work, 305 
Green River, Escalante on, 101 
Gregg, Josiah, Commerce of , the 

Prairies, referred to, 147 
Guadalajara, 100, 121 
Guadalajara, Diego de, (72) 
Guadalupe del Paso mission, (70), 82 
Guadalupe Hidalgo, treaty of, 177, 

188, 19S 
Gulf of California, Vaca on, 15, 33; 

Ofiate .on, 61 



Gulf of Mexico, drainage, basin, 2, 3, 

34; route to, 71, 73; French on, 94 
Gunnison River, Rivera on, 106 
Gwin, Senator, from California, 197 
Habeas corpus, 164, 315 
Hadley, Hiram, 259, 263, 270 
Hagerman, 241 
Haiti, (12) 
Handicrafts, 116 
Harding County, 244 
Harwood Industrial School, 252 
Havana, 71 
Hawikuh, (20) 
Health, bureau of, 399 
Hernando, (13) 
Hewett, Edgar L. ( 274 
Hidalgo, (122) 
Hidalgo County, copper and silver in, 

237 
Higher education, 269-275 
High schools, county, 265, 393 
Hindenburg Line smashed, 302 
Historical Society, 275 
Hogan, Navajo lodge, (9) 
Hondo Project (irrigation), 246, 370 
Horses, brought by Spaniards, 5; 

7, 114, 115 
Horticulture, prehistoric, 7 
Hospitality, 144, 148 
Hough, Emerson, quoted, 219 
Houghton, Joab, 163 \ 

Houston, Sam, letter to Santa Anna, 

141 
Howland, Samuel, 140 
Huerta, (294) 

Humana, (47); expedition of, 59 
Hunter, Captain, 206 
Ibarra, Francisco, (36) 
Idaho, 278 
Ignacia, (132) 
Illinois, 97, 113, 128, 293 
Illiteracy, 250, 267 
Impeachment, 341 
Imports, 117, 118 
Incorporation of cities, towns and 

villages, 414 
Independence, Missouri, 129, 183 
Independent voters, 325, 327 
Indians, baptized, 66, 88; freedom, 83; 

campaigns, 93; trade with, limited, 

117; at Bosque Redondo, 213, 214 



INDEX 



359 



References are to sections. 



Indian policy, French, 98; Spanish, 

99, 100, 117; American, 213, Zio 
Indian population, 44, 66. See also 

Pueblo, Apache, Navajo, etc. 
Indian problem, 26, 84,92, 93, 99, 143. 

190, 191, 192, 211, 212; settlement of, 

212-216 
Indian slavery, 201 
Indian Territory, 28u, 281, 282 
Indictment, 385 
Industrial education, 266 
Industries, 145 

Initiative, 286; in cities, 421 
Inquest, 404 
Insane, asylum for, 426 
Inspector Comandante, (100) 
Insurance, superintendent of, 369 
Interior Provinces, 100, 101, 102 
Internas, (ICO) 
Iron, 237 
Irrigation, prehistoric, 7; later, 115, 

239-241, 245, 246 
Isabella, colony of, 12 
Isleta, (46), 69 
Jamestown, 12, 52, 54, 276 
Janos, (102) 
Jaramillo familly, 163 
Jaramillo, Josefa, wife of Kit Carson, 

133; Maria Ignacia, wife of Charles 

Bent, (132) 
Jefe Politico, (150) 
Jefferson, Thomas, 310 
Jemez, Espejo at, 41; Ofiate at, 52; 

87, 92, 93 
Jemez River, Rodriguez on, (38) 
Jesuit college at Las Vegas, 251 
Jicarilla Apaches, (93) 
Joaquin, (112) 

Joint statehood with Arizona pro- 
posed, 283-284 
Jornada del Muerto, crossed by 

Ofiate's colonists, (51); 91, 92, 204 
Joseph, survivor of Humana and 

Bonilla expedition, 47; guide for 

Onate, 59 
Juan, (2) 
Juarez, settled, (70); Doniphan at, 

168, 181 
Judicial department, 311 
Jumano Indians, Espejo among, (40); 

visited by New Mexicans, 72, 73 



Jury, trial by, 164, 384; service on, 
315; petit, 384; grand, 385 

Justice of peace courts, 187, 371, 380, 
404 

Kansas, Coronado in, 30, 33; first mis- 
sionaries in, 34; Onate in, 59; Mal- 
let party in, 97; people from, 293. 

Kansas City, 184 

Kansas Indians, French among, 95 

Kansas River, Vial at, 105 

Kaskaskia, 113, 128 

Kearny Code, 164, 187, 188 

Kearny's Organic Act, 164, 176 

Kearny, Stephen W., 156; numbers in 
command, 157; march to Bent's Fort, 
158; proclamations of, 159, 161; 
enters Santa Fe, 161; leaves for 
California, 165; abolishes stamp tax, 
188; 183, 193, 197 

Kelly, zinc mines at, 237 

Kentucky, 108, 113, 114, 125, 131 

King of Spain, 45, 67, 121 

Kiva, (6) 

Knights of Columbus drives, 305, 306 

Kozlosky's Ranch, 208 

La Canada, (55), 69, 90; population, 
91, 119; battles at, 135, 136, 174 

La Cuesta, (140) 

Laguna, (92) 

Laguna del Oro, 41 

La Harpe, expeditions on Red and 
Arkansas rivers, (94), 104 

La Jicarilla, 95 

La Junta, 128 

La Lande, Baptiste, (113), 1 32 

Lamar, President of Texan Republic, 
139 

Lamy, John B., 251 

Land grants, settlement of title, 247- 
248 

Land registry law, 104 

Land offices, United States, 370 

Lands, public, commissioner of, 368 

Larrazolo, O. A., governor, 357 

La Salle on Texas coast, (73), 94 

Las Cruces College, 259, 270 

Las Guasimas, battle of, (281) 

Las Palomas, (131) 

Las Vegas, (105); settled, 129; 
Kearny at, 159; skirmish at, 175; 
railroad at, 224; Jesuit college at, 



36o 



INDEX 



References are to sections. 



251; academy at, 252; Normal Uni- 
versity at, 274 

Latitude, 3 

Lavaca River, La Salle on, (73) 

Lawlessness, spirit of, 218, 219, 228 

Laws of Settlement (1573), 46 

Laws, publication of, 351 

Lea County, 244 

Legislative districts, 336 

Legislature, under Kearny's Organic 
Act, 176, 178; Territorial, 185, 187; 
State, 335-354; composition and ses- 
sions, 335; qualification of members, 
337; term of office, 339; vacancies in, 
340; powers of House and Senate, 
341; powers of, 342-343; organization 
of, 344; committees of, 345; procedure 
of, 346-349; adjournment, 349 

Leon, (46) 

Libel explained, 316 

Liberty Loans, 305, 306 

Liberty under law, 322 

Lieutenant governor, 360 

Lincoln, proposed State of, 276 

Lincoln County, coal and iron in, 237; 
240, 242, 287 

Lincoln County War, 219, 220 

Lindsey, W. E., governor, 299 

Liquor tax, 256 

Little Colorado River, drainage area, 2 

Little Arkansas River, 142 

Live stock, prices, 114, 115; industry, 
229-233 

Local government, 85, 400 

Lomas, Juan Bautista de, (45) 

Lone Star Republic, 139 

"Longhorns," 229 

Lopez, (24) 

Lopez, Francisco, 37, 39, 40 

Lopez, Nicolas, 72, 73 

Lordsburg, silver mines at, 237 

Loretto, Sisters of, 251 

Los Angeles, 101; trail to, 131 

Los Cerrillos, settled, (90); turquoise 
mines at, 234 

"Lost Expedition," 95 

Louisiana, 94, 97, 103; trail to, 104; 
acquired by Spain, 107; ceded by 
Spain to France, 109; boundary ot, 
109; explored by Pike, 111, 112 

Louisiana Purchase, 11, 108, 109, 124 



Luis, (34) 

Lumber, 238 

Luna, (28) 

Luna County, zinc in, 237; high school 

established, 265 
Lynde, Isaac, 203 
McAllister, 140, 141 
McDaniel, John, raid, 142 
McDonald, William C, first governor 

of State, 289, 290, 291 
McKinley County, 20; coal in, 237 
McKinley, President, 279 
McKnight, Robert, 114 
McLeod, Hugh, 139 
Madero revolution, (294) 
Magdalena Mountains, 99 
Magellan, Straits of, 12 
Mail service, early, 144; overland, 

183, 184, 199 
Maldonado, Alonso del Castillo, (15) 
Mallet party, results of visit, (97) 
Mandamus, 372 
Manuel, (135) 
Manufactures, 116, 238 
Manzano Mountains, 65 
Marcos, (16) 
Mares, Jose, (103) 
Maria, {37) 
Marine Corps, American, at Chateau 

Thierry, 302 
Marne, Second Battle of, (302), 303 
Marriages, Christian, annuelled, 83 
Martin, Cristobal, (45) 
Martinez, Alonzo, (51), 60 
Martinez, Antonio Jose, 147, 187 
Martinez, Juan, 95 
Massachusetts, 140 
Matagorda Bay, 71 
Matamoros, military forces at, (154); 

Taylor at, 156 
Medical examiners, State board of, 

369 
Medicine men, 78, 89 
Melgares, Facundo, (110), 111, 123 
Memphis, Tennessee, 199 
Menaul School, 252 
Mendoza, Antonio de, (17), 22, 32 
Mendoza, Dominguez de, 73 
Mendoza-Lopez expedition into Texas, 

73 
Merriwether, David, 114 



INDEX 



361 



References are to sections. 



Mesa, (5) 

Mescalero Apaches, Tounded up, (213); 
on warpath, 214; on reservation, 215 

Mescalero Indian agency, 219 

Mesilla, founding of, (196); on over- 
land stage route, 199, 221; Confed- 
erates at, 202, 204; reached by tele- 
graph, 222 

Mesilla Valley, Fort Fillmore in, 192; 
Confederate volunteers from, 204; 233 

Messervy, William S., 182 

Methodists, 252 

Mexican border, trouble on, 294-297 

Mexican boundary dispute, 195-198 

Mexican government, monarchical 
tendencies, 136 

"Mexican Mountains," 111 

Mexican period, 123; end of, 151, 161 

Mexican Republic, 4; established, 122, 
123; 124, 126; opposition to Ameri- 
cans, 134; centralization in, 135; 142 

Mexicans in New Mexico, 293 

Mexican War, causes of, 152-156; plan 
of operations, 156; close of, 177, 186; 
stopped Chihuahua trade, 223 

Mexico, conquest of, 13; Valley of, 36; 
independence of, 122; American ex- 
pedition into, 295, 297 

Mexico City, occupied by Cortes, 13, 
18; Niza at, 21; Coronado at, ?2; 
Ofiate at, 50; 62; trail to, 71, 91, 145; 
government at, 64; revolution at, 
122; 140; captured by Americans, 177 

Mica mines, 106, 234 

Michigan, 277 

Miguel, (43) 

Middle West, railway connection 
with, 240 

Miles, Nelson A., 216 

Military control, 1846-1851, 176, 182, 190 

Military Department of New Mexico. 
176, 191, 202, 209 

Military Institute, founding of, 273; 
development of, 273, 274, 275 

Military posts, 192 

Military protection, 92, 121 

Militia, 192; defined, 357 

Milling, 238 

Mills, primitive, 145 

Mills, William J., governor, 290 

Mimbres Valley, 169 



Mine inspector, 369 

Mineral wealth of New Mexico, re- 
ported by Espejo, 44; known to 
French, 94; modern, 234-237 

Miners' hospital, 427 

Mining, 106, 145, 234-237, 278; first 
boom, 236 
' Miscellaneous provisions of State con- 
stitution, 311 

Misdemeanor, denned, 380, note 

Missionaries, first in New Mexico, 34 

Missions, founded by Ofiate, 53, 65; 
growth of, 65; civilizing agencies, 98 

Mississippi River, drainage area, 2, 3; 
discovered, 15; French on, 94; boun- 
dary of New Spain, 107 

Missippi Valley, 4, 11 

Missouri, 124, 127, 128; in Civil War, 
205; people from, 293 ' 

Missouri River, Mallet party on, 97; 
Vial on, 105; English on, 107; Daniel 
Boone on, 108; 109, 110; Purcell on, 
113; road to, 126, 221 

Mogollon, silver mines at, 237 

Mojave Desert, crossed by Spanish 
Trail, (131); by overland stage, 199 

Monclova, (46) 

Money, 117 

Montana, 133, 278 

Monterey, California, 101, 102 

Montezuma, (13), 49; proposed State 
of, 278 

Montoya, Juan Martinez de, (63) 

Montoya, Pablo, 172, 175 

Moqui, discovered by Tovar, (24); 
Rodriguez at, 38; Espejo at, 41; 
Ofiate at, 55; Vargas at, 85 

Mora, 106; Americans killed at, 173; 
engagements at, 175; mica mines at, 
234 

Mora River, 128; Fort Union on, 192 

Morlete, Juan, (46) 

Mormons, 318 

Morning Journal, Albuquerque, 289 

Morrill Act, 270 

Morrison, William, 113 

Moses, 20 

Mules, 115 

Municipal corporations, 412; govern- 
ment, 412-421 

Munroe, John, governor, 176, 182 



362 



INDEX 



References are to sections. 



Museum of New Mexico, 275 

Napoleon, 121, 122 

Narvaez expedition, (IS) 

Natchitoches, (94); trail to, 104; Pike 
at, 112 

National Army, American, 303 

National Guard, called out, 296; mus- 
tered out, 297; called to Federal ser- 
vice, 298, 299, 304; defined, 357 

Naturalization, 332, 333 

Navajo Indians, (5); habits and 
customs, 9, 213; depradations of, 63; 
allies of Apaches, 93; treaty with 
Doniphan, 166; at Bosque Redondo, 
213; on reservation, 214 

Nebraska, Mallet party in, 97 

Negroes, 187, 210 

New Almaden, (46) 

New Biscay, 46, 47, 70, 84, 100, 102 

New Bedford, Massachusetts, 140 

New England, 1, 89; type of govern- 
ment, 400 

New Galicia, Coronado governor, 32 

New Jersey,. 1 , 

New Leon, (46) 

New Mexico, location and size, 1 
discovered by Spaniards, 10, 19, 20 
the name, 36, 276; as northern out 
post, 55, 64; reconquest of, 84-86 
part of Interior Provinces, 100 
ceded to United States, 177 

New Mexico Central Railroad, 249 

New Mexico Educational Associa- 
tion, 259, 267 

New Orleans, 97 

"New Placers," gold mining at, 235 

New Spain, 13; Vaca in, 14; Niza in, 
18, 21; shifting frontier of, 35; colo- 
nists return to, 54; expansion of, 
64; French prisoners in, 94; Interior 
Provinces of, 100; frontier energy, 
160 

Newton, Kansas, cattle . market, 229 

New West Education Commission, 252 

Nicolas, 03) 

Nineteenth Amendment, 338 

Niza, Friar Marcos de, (16); discovers 
New Mexico, 18-20; route of, 19;. ef- 
fect of report, 21; guide for Coro- 
nado, 22, 23; 34, 48 

Nominations for office, 323-327 



Normal Schools, 274 

North America, exploration of, 33 

North and South, controversy be- 
tween, 153, 201 

North Carolina, 133 

North Dakota, 278 

Northeastern expansion, 55, 64, 96 

Northeastern expeditions of Uribarri, 
94; Valverde and Villasur, 95 

Northeastern frontier, French on, 95 

Northern exploration, 64 

North Sea, 45 

Northwest Ordinance of 1787, 310 

Nova Scotia, 12 

Nueces, 154 

Nunez, (15) 

Oconor, Hugo, 100 

Ohio River, English on, 1U/ 

Ojo Caliente, Pike at, (112) 

Oklahoma, Coronado in, 30, 33; 75; 
Rough Riders, 280; 281, 282; becomes 
State, 283; people from, 293 

Old Spanish Trail, 101, 131. See also 
Spanish Trail 

Ofiate, Cristobal, 63 

Onate, Juan de, (5); family history, 
49; colonizing plans, 50; route to 
New Mexico, 51.; meets Pueblo 
chiefs, 52; settles at San Juan, 52; 
relations with Indians, 57; report 
to viceroy, 58; Quivira expedition, 
59; expedition to Gulf of California, 
61; achievements, 62 

Ordinance of 1784, 310; of 1787, 310 

Oregon, 153 

Organic Act of 1850, signed, 182; pro- 
visions of, 185; 186, 187, 189 

Organ Pass, 203 

Original jurisdiction, 372, 377 

Orphans' home, 428 

Otermin, Antonio de, governor, (79); 
abandons Santa Fe, 81 

Otero, Antonio Jose, 163 

Otero County, copper in, 237; high 
school established, 265 

Otero, Miguel A., governor, 263 

Overland mail, beginning of, 183; to 
Pacific, 199 

Overland trade, 115, 193, 223 

Pacific coast, route to, 4, 211; Coro- 



L 



INDEX 



363 



References are to sections. 



nado on, 22; Ofiate on, 61; pack 
trains to, 131 

Pacific railroad, surveys for, 197; 198, 
220 

Pack trains, 65, 116, 118, 124, 131 

Padilla, Juan de, (34) 

Paganism, 89 

Palace Hotel, 269, note 

Palace of the Governors, 161, 187, 219, 
275 

Palomas, (131) 

Panama, Isthmus of, 13 

Pardon, power of, 358 

Parral, skirmish at, (295) 

Parras Lake, (36) 

Pattie, James O., 125 

Paul, Major, 209 

Pawnee Indians, French among, 94; 
massacre Villasur party, 95; Mel- 
gares among, 110; Pike among, 111 

Pecos, missionaries at, 34; Ofiate at, 
52; Zaldivar at, 59; 71, 79; ruined 
by Comanches, 93; trading center, 
96, 117; 129; Kearny at, 159. See 
also Cicuye 

Pecos country, 139, 140 

Pecos River, (2), 5; Alvarado on, 25; 
Coronado on, 28, 29; Espejo on, 42; 
Sosa on, 46; Indians on, 213 

Pecos Valley, early settlers, 218; cat- 
tlemen in, 231; cattle business in, 
232; isolated, 240; railroad in, 240 

Pecos Valley and Northeastern Rail- 
road, 240, 249 

Pedro, (24) 

Penal institutions, 422-425 

Penitentiary, 228; superintendent of, 
369; management of, 422 

Pennsylvania, 1 

Penuela, governor, (88) 

Peonage, 149, 201; abolished, 210 

Peralta, battle at, 209 

Peralta, Pedro de, governor, (63) 

Perez, Albino, governor, (135); mur- 
der of, 135 

Pershing, John J., 295, 298, 300, 302 

Peru, 17, 18, 64 

Philippines, schools in, 253 

Picuris, (78), 87 

Pierre, (103) 

Pigeon's Ranch, 208 



Pike, Zebulon M., 106; expedition of, 
111-112; among the Pawnees, 111; in 
Santa Fe, 112; at Chihuahua, 113, 
113; report of, 114 

Pike's Peak, discovered, 111 

Pilgrims, 52 

Pima Indians, (74) 

Pino, Nicolas, 174 

Pino, Pedro Bautista, (121) 

Pioneering spirit of American West, 
108 

Pioneers, Spanish, patriotism and 
missionary zeal, 48; Anglo-Ameri- 
can, 107; Western, spirit of, 155; 
New Mexican, 181 

Pizarro, (18) 

Plaintiff, 382 

Platforms, party, 324 

Platte River, Humafina and Bonilla 
on, 47; Villasur on, 95; Mallet 
party on, 97; 110; Purcell on, 113 

Plaza, (159) 

Pluarality rule in elections, 330 

Plymouth, 52, 54, 276 

Poblaciones, (90) 

Pocket veto, 348 

Political and religious controversies, 
76 

Political Chief, 123, 150 

Political equality, 312 

Political parties, first, 179; 277, 278, 
282, 291. See also Democrats, Re- 
publicans 

Political rights denned, 315 

Polk, James K., President, election 
of, 153; dealings with Mexico, 154 

Poll tax, first, 256 

Polygamy, 310 

Pony express, 183, 199 

Pope, (78) 

Population, division of, 11; 69, 91, 
117, 119, 190; growth of, 292; com- 
position of, 293; Indian, 38, 43, 44, 
66, 143; Pueblo, 38, 143; Apache, 143; 
Navajo, 180 

Porfirio, (294) 

Portales, 241 

Porto Rico, schools in, 253; surrender 
of, 281 

Post offices, early, 144 

Powder factory, 145 



364 



INDEX 



References are to sections. 



Prairie schooners, 129, 158 

Precinct courts, 380, 404 

Presbyterians, 252 

Presentment, 385 

Presidential electors, 329 

Presidios, (91), 100 

Press, freedom of, 315; explained, 316 

Price, Sterling, troops under, 157, 166, 
170; march to Taos, 174, 176 

Prices in Santa Fe, 114, 116 

Primary, direct, 286 

Prince, L. B., governor, 236, 260, 261 

Printing, introduction of, 147; modern, 
238 

Probate courts, 371, 379, 404 

Progressives, 289 

Prohibition amendment, 299 

Provincias Internas, (100) 

Provisional government, 1846-1851 ; 
170-184; military control of, 176; 
financial troubles of, 188 

Puaray, renamed "Tiguex," (25); 
Rodriguez expedition at, 37; mis- 
sionaries at, 39; Espejo at, 40, 42; 
Ofiate at, 55. See also Tiguex. 

Public lands, 310 

Public welfare, department of, 399 

"Pueblo," two meanings, (5) 

Pueblo, Colorado, Pike at, 111 

Pueblo Indians, 5; region occupied 
by, 5; arts, crafts, and industries, 
7; social and religious customs, 8, 
68; "dances," 8; population, 5, 38, 
119, 143; danger from, 69, 76, 87; 
servitude, 76, 117; government, 121; 
in Revolt of 1847, 172; citizenship 
of, 217 

Pueblo Rebellion, 72, 73; account of, 
76-83; number killed, 79; results of, 
81, 83; 84, 89, 94; later uprisings, 87 

Puerto de Luna, Coronado at, (28) 

Punche, (115) 

Purcell, James, 113, 132 

Quay County, 244 

Quesenberry, Joseph, 303 

Quivira, tales of, (27); 28, 29; Coro- 
nado at, 30; inhabitants of, 30; first 
missionaries at, 34; expedition ol 
Ofiate to, 59 

Quo warranto, 372 



Race mixture, 11, 293; equality, 312, 
315 

Railroads, start west, 184; route to 
Pacific, 197; coming of, 224-228; fol- 
low old trails, 226; influence of, 227; 
new problems, 228; monopoly of, 228, 
249; influence on statehood move- 
ment, 278. See also Denver and 
Rio Grande, El Paso and North- 
eastern, El Paso and Southwestern, 
New Mexico Central, Pecos Valley 
and Northeastern, Rock Island, 
Santa Fe, Santa Fe Central, South- 
ern Pacific, Texas and Pacific, 
Union Pacific. 

Rainfall, 3 

Raton Pass, (11), 128; Kearny at, 159; 
railroad at, 224 

Recall, in cities, 421 

Reclamation service, 370 

Reconquest of New Mexico, 86, 87 

Reconstruction period, 277 

Records destroyed, 83 

Red Cross, 305 

Redondo, (213) 

Red River, drainage area, 2; natural 
highway, 4; Vial on, 103, 104; Eng- 
lish on, 107, 109, 112, 139; crossed 
by Butterfield Stage, 199 

Red River Canyon, battle at, 175 

Referendum, on first school law, 254, 
286; in New Mexico, explained, 353; 
in cities, 421 

Reform School, 424 

Religious freedom, 310, 314; explained, 
318 

Religious status of Pueblos, 76 

Representatives in Congress, 354 

Republicans, strength of, 282, 284, 286, 
289, 291, 327 

Revision of State constitution, 313 

Revolt of 1847, 170-176; causes, 170, 
172; results, 176 

Revolution of 1837, 135; results of, 137 

Riballo, (97) 

Rincon, Cooke at, 169 

Rio Arriba, (150) 

Rio Arriba County, created, 187, 254 

"Rio de Las Vacas," (42) 

Rio Grande, drainage area, (2); 
natural highway, 4; Alvarado on, 25; 



INDEX 



365 



References are to sections. 



Rodriguez on, 37; Beltran on, 42; 
Sosa on, 46; Ofiate on, 51; settle- 
ments in valley of, 69; St. Vrain on, 
125; Taylor on, 156 

Rio Grande Industrial School, 252 

Rio Salado (Pecos River), (46) 

Rio Tizon, (61) 

Rivera, Juan Maria, in Colorado, (105) 

Roads, 144, 221 

Robinson, John H., with Pike, 111, 
112, 113 

Robledo, presidio at, (92) 

Rock Island Railroad, 249 

Rocky Mountains, 2, 4; well known 
to New Mexicans, 106; Carson in, 
133; express business in, 200 

Rodriguez, Agustin, expedition to 
New Mexico, 37-39; new route of, 
(37); explorations of, 38-39; death 
of, 39, 48 

Romero, Tomasito, (172), 174, 175 

Roosevelt County, 244, 287 

Roosevelt Dam, 246 

Roosevelt, Theodore, quoted, 155, 279 

Ross, Edmund G., governor, 269 

Roswell, 29, 33, railroad at, 240; 
artesian water at, 241 

Roubidoux, Antonio, (132), 159 

Rough Riders, organization, 280; fight- 
ing in Cuba, 281, 282 

Russians, 301 

Sabine River, Vial on, (104), 154 

Sacramento Pass, battle of, 168 

St. Clair, 97 

St. Francis, Kingdom of, 20 

St. Lawrence River, 94 

St. Louis, trail to, 105, 128 

St. Louis to San Francisco stage, 199 

St. Michael's College, 251, 261 

St. Mihiel, battle of, (302), 303 

St. Vrain, Ceran, (125), 132, 133, 163, 
174 

Salado, (46) 

Salaries of county officers, 402 

Salas, Father, expedition into Texas, 
(72) 

Salazar, Damasio, (140) 

Saltillo, Doniphan at, (168) 

Salt Lakes, visited by Ofiate, 55 

Salvation Army drive, 306 



San Antonio and San Diego Mail, 
199, 221, 226 

San Antonio, Texas, 102; founded, 
103; trail to, 103, 156, 197 

San Bartolome, Rodriguez at, (37); 
Kspejo at, 40 

San Carlos Reservation, 215 

Sanchez, (37) 

San Cristobal, visited by Ofiate, 52 

Sandia Mountains, (37) 

San Diego, California, mail line to, 
199; telegraph reaches, 222 

San Felipe, (90) 

"San Francisco, city of," 52 

San Francisco, stage line to, 199 

San Gabriel, founded, (58); aband- 
oned, 60; Ofiate returns to, 61; de- 
cline of, 63 

Sangre de Cristo Mountains, (2), 111 

San Udefonso, Sosa at, (46); Ofiate 
at, 52 

San Jacinto, (152) 

San Joaquin Valley, (199) 

San Juan, first settlement at, 1598, 9, 
52; visited by Sosa, 46; grand coun- 
cil at, 53; first winter at, 54, 56, 57, 
58; Pope at, 78; Pike at, 112 

San Juan (Cuba), battle of, 281 

San Juan Basin, crossed by Escalante 
and Dominguez, 101; Rivera in, 106; 
development of, 242; coal deposits 
in, 237 

San Juan County, created, 243; chief 
industries, 243, 287 

"San Juan de los Caballeros," b'Z 

San Juan River, drainage area, (2); 
natural highway, 4 

San Luis Valley, 111 

San Marcial, (29), 33, 71 

San Marcos, Ofiate at, 52, 55 

San Miguel, 124, 129; Kearny at, 159 

San Miguel Church, 88 

San Miguel County, created, 187, 336 

San Pedro River, 169 

San Pedro Valley, 74 

Santa Ana County, created, 187, 254 

Santa Anna, General, 135, 140, 142, 151, 
152, 177 

Santa Barbara, Rodriguez at, 37, 40; 
Ofiate at, 51, 54 



366 



INDEX 



References are to sections. 



Santa Barbara mines, (35), 40; Ofiate 
at, 50; deserters at, 60 

Santa Clara, Sosa at, 46, 92 

Santa Cruz (Arizona), presidio at, 102 

Santa Cruz de La Canada. See La 
Canada 

Santa Fe, (4); founded, 63; first 
church in, 67; population of, 69, 71, 
119; 71, 72, 76; siege of, 85; recap- 
tured, 85; reoccupied by Vargas, 86; 
distance from Mexico City, 91; 
French expedition toward, 94; Mal- 
let party at, 97; Vial at, 103; Robin- 
son at, 111; Pike at, 112; traders 
start to, 114, 122; Becknell at, 124; 
made Territorial capital, 187; cap- 
tured by Confederates, 207, 203; rail- 
road at, 224; Mica mines at, 234; 
schools at, 251, 252 

Santa Fe Central Railroad, 249 

Santa Fe County, created, 187; copper 
and zinc in, 237 

Santa Fe garrison, 92 

Santa Fe Railroad, 218; coming of, 
224, 249 

Santa Fe trade, 113, 114, 118; goods 
and prices, 124, 127; government aid, 
126, 130; popularity of, 126; in- 
fluence of, 134; importance of, 138, 
142; injured by Revolution of 1837, 
138; 139, 145, 193; after Civil War, 
223 

Santa Fe Trail, Coronado on, 31; 
blazed by Vial, 105; route of, 128; 
survey of, 130; 142, 144, 158; freight- 
ing over, 184; Forty-niners on, 194, 
199; followed by railroad, 226 

Santa Maria, Juan de, Franciscau 
missionary, (37), 40 

Santa Rita copper mines, 106, 131; 
Fort Webster at, 192; 197, 234 

Santa Rosa, 249 

Santiago (Cuba), surrender of, 281 

Santo Domingo, Sosa at, (46); Ofiate 
at, 52, 87 

Satren, Pierre, at Santa Fe, (97) 

School directors, 392 

School law, common, 254-256, 260 

School of American Archaeology, 275 

School of American Research, 275 



School of Mines, created, 269; de- 
velopment of, 272 

School revenues, 397 

Schools, Spanish mission, 67 

School System, public, 258-268; or- 
ganization of, 261; tax-supported, 
262; enrollment, 263; term lengthen- 
ed, 264; management of, 387-399. 
See also Education. 

Scotch-Irish, 129 

Scott, Winfield, Vera Cruz expedition, 
156, 177 

Searches and seizures, 315; explained, 
319 

Secretary of state, 362 

Senate, court of impeachment, 371 

Senators, United States, election of, 
329, 351 

Session laws, 351 

Settlement at San Juan, 52 

Settlement, Laws of, 46 

Seven Cities, stories of, 14, 19, 20 

Sevier Lake, Escalante at, (101) 

Sheep brought by Spaniards, 7 

"Sheep Kings," 145, 230 

Sheep raising, 4, 114, 115, 145; im- 
portance of, 230, 239 

Sheriff, 407 

Short ballot, 419 

Sia, Espejo at, (41); Ofiate at, 52 

Sibley, H. H., 206, 207, 209 

Sierra County, iron in, 237; Elephant 
Butte Dam in, 246, 287 

Silver, 237 

Silver City, normal school at, 274 

Sisters of Charity, 428 

Sky City. See Acoma 

Sinaloa, settled, • (13); traversed by 
Coronado, 33, 100 

Slander, explained, 316 

Slavery, 149, 180, 201 

Slavery controversy, influence of, 153 

Slocum, Herbert, 294 

Smith, Hugh N., 178 

Smith, John, 52 

Smith-Hughes Act, 266, 395 

Snively, Jacob, raid on Santa Fe 
Trail, 142 

Social life, 144, 148 

Socorro, the name, 51; Ofiate at, 51; 
74, 92; Confederates at, 207 



INDEX 



367 



References are to sections. 



Socorro County, created, 187, 232; coal, 
iron, copper, gold, and zinc in, 237; 
254, 336 
Sonora, crossed by Coronado, 33; 
Indian troubles in, 84, 100; route to, 
102; Pattie in, 125; Cooke's wagon 
road through, 197 
Sosa, Gaspar Castano de, colonizing 

efforts, (46), 48 
South, controversy with North, 153; 

favorable to West, 277 
South Carolina, 198 
Southerners, 201 
Southern Pacific Railroad, 218 
Southern type of government, 400 
South Sea, 45; Onate on, 61 
Southwest, belated, 220 
Spain, in the Age of discovery, 12; 
New Mexico claimed for ,20; Moors 
in, 23; claims of, 29; acquires west- 
ern Louisiana, 98; imports from, 116 
Spanish-American Normol School, 274 
Spanish-American War, 279-281 
Spanish and Mexican law, 164 
Spanish colonial policy, 118, 122, 124 
Spanish era, close of, 99-122 
Spanish King, 67 

Spanish language in New Mexico, 10 
Spanish pioneers, 4; character and 
traditions of, 10, 17; patriotic and 
missionary zeal of, 40 
Spanish Trail, 101, 131, 144, 242. See 
also Old Spanish Trail. 
Speech, freedom of, 315; explained, 316 
Springer, reform school at, 424 
Stagecoach, coming of, 184 
Stamp tax, abolished by Kearny, 188 
Stars and Stripes, 154; raised over 

Palace of Governors, 161 
State, admission of, 290, 310 
State government, field of, 308; im- 
portance of, 308, 309; organization 
of, 311 
"State" government of 1850, 182 
Statehood, movement for, 177, 178, 180, 
182, 276-278; winning of, 282-285; be- 
ginnings of, 276-307. 
Statehood Bill. See Enabling Act 
"State party," 179 

Stephen, guide of Friar Marcos, 15, 
18: at Zufii, 20, 22, 40 



Stock raising, 4, 91, 115, 116, 145; 
first source of wealth, 229; recent 
progress, 232; 278 

Stockton, Commodore, 165 

Students' Army Training Crops, 305 

Suffrage, right of, 315, 331-332, 334 

Sumner, E. V., 191, 192 

Sunday laws, 256 

Superintendent of public instruction, 
366; functions, 389 

Superintendent of schools, county, 391 

Supreme court, 371-375; jurisdiction of 
372; sessions of, 373; judges, 374; 
other officers, 375 

Supreme Court of United States, ap- 
peal to, 372 

Surveyor, county, 409 

Taft, President, 290 

Tampico, (34) 

Taos, (5); Spaniards at, 29, 33; Sosa 
at, 46; Onate at, 52; 69, 71, 79, 87; 
Pope at, 78; Vargas at, 85; trading 
center, 92, 96; Mallet party at, 97; 
114, 128, 131; population of, 117; 
Becknell at, 124; American settlers 
in, 132; Kit Carson at, 133; Amer- 
icans flee from, 142; 163, 165; battle 
of, 174; road to, 221 

Taos County, created, 187; 254 

Taos fairs, 97; articles of trade, 117 

Taos Rebellion. See Revolt of 1847 

Taos Valley, massacre in, 79 

Tariff on goods from United States, 
126, 138, 188 

Taxation, 135, 255, 310, 406 

Tax commission, 369 

Taylor, Zachary, on Rio Grande, 154; 
168, 177; favors statehood, 180; 186 

Teachers, qualifications of, 257 

Tecolote, Kearny at, (159) 

Tejas Indians, (72), 73 

Telegraph, coming of, 222 

Tennessee, 3, 131, 140 

Tennessee River, English on, 107 

Territorial government, provisional, 
organized by Kearny, 163-164; plan- 
ned by convention of 1849, 178; 
regular, created, 185; organized, 186, 
187; nature of, 190. See also Gov- 
ernment 

"Territorial Party," 179 



368 



INDEX 



References are to sections. 



Territorial superintendent of public 
instruction, 261 

Tesuque, (79) 

Texan Republic, recognition of, 154, 
189 

Texans, feeling against, 137, 139, 141 

Texas, Vaca in, 15; Coronado in, 28- 
30, 33; Spaniards in, 34; Spanish ac- 
tivity in, 71-73, 75, 100, 107, 118; in- 
dependence of, 152; Republic of, 153; 
annexation of, opposed by Aboli- 
tionists, 153; dispute over, 154; 
Aemricanized, 155; Confederates 
from, 201; people from, 293; Villista 
raids into, 296 

Texas and Pacific Railroad, 218 

Texas-Mexico boundary, effort to set- 
tle, 139, 154; 156, 177 

Texas-New Mexico boundary dis- 
pute, 139, 178 ,189 

Texas-Santa Fe Expedition, 137; 
route of, 139; organization and pur- 
poses, 139; treatment of, 140, 141; 
results of, 141, 142, 152 

Textbooks, uniform, 261 

Thirteenth Amendment, 210 

Tigua Indians, (25), 40 

Tiguex, Alvarado at, (25); Coronado's 
first winter at, 26; 28, 29; Coronado's 
second winter at, 32; missionaries 
at, 34. See Puaray. 

Tizon, (61) 

Tomasito, (172) 

Tome, postoffice at, (144) 

Tompkins, Frank, 294 

Torrance County, Rodriguez in, 38, 55 

Tovar, Pedro de, discovers Tusayan, 
(24), 34 

Township, 400 

Towns, schools in, 394; government 
of, 413-414 

Trade, with Indians, limited, 96; with 
French, forbidden, 96; restrictions 
on, 114, 117, 118, 124, 138, 142, 193 

Trade route to Gila country, 102 

Traders, 72, 114, 116 

Trades and industries, 116 

Transcontinental railroad, plans for, 
197; 224 

Trappers, 113, 125, 131 

Travel and communication, 144, 221 



Treason, defined, 315 

Treasurer, State, 364; county, 406 

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 177 

Trial by jury, 314, 315, 384 

Tribute, 76 

Trinidad, Colorado, 218 

Tucson, (169); on overland stage 
route, 199; convention at, 204; taken 
by Confederates, 206; telegraph at, 
222 

Tucumcari, 249 

Tupatu, Luis, (78) 

Turk, 25, 27, 28, 29; "made an ex- 
ample of," 30 

Turkeys, 7 

Turley's Mill, Americans killed at, 
173 

Turquoise, 234 

Tusayan, discovered by Tovar, (24), 
34 

Twitchell, R. E., quoted, 280 

Uncompahgre region, Rivera in, (106). 

Union, New Mexico for, 201, 202 

Union County, 244 

Union Pacific Railroad, 223 

United States, 11; acquires Loui- 
siana, 109; westward expansion of. 
110; 114; trade with, 118, 126, 131; 
recognition of Texas, 154. See also 
Santa Fe trade, West, Southwest. 

United States Bureau of Education, 
270 

United States flag on Spanish terri- 
tory, 112 

United War Work drive, 306 

University, 261; created, 269; develop- 
ment of ,271; 272, 305 

Unwritten law, 352 

Uribarri, Juan, at El Cuartelejo, (94) 

Utah, Escalante in, 101; trail through, 
131 

Utah Lake, Escalante at, 101 

Ute Indians, 5, 9; allies of Apaches, 
93; campaigns against, 94, 95 

Vaca, Cabeza de, (15); hears of New 
Mexican pueblos, 16; journey of, 17; 
18, 40. 

Valencia County, 5; created, 187; 232; 
coal and copper in, 237 

Valenciano, Casilda, (43) 

Valenciano, Miguel Sanchez, 43 



L 



INDEX 



369 



References are to sections. 



Valverde, Antonio, northeastern cam- 
paign, 95 

Valverde, battle of, 207, 213 

Van Buren, Arkansas, 199 

Vara, (124) 

Vargas, Diego de, governor, recon- 
quest by, (85); reoccupation by, 86; 
completes reconquest, 87; 90; French- 
men with, 94 

Vasquez, (22) 

Valesco, Luis de, (50), 58 

Vera Cruz, founded, (13); port of 
entry, 116; trail to, 126, 145 

Vera Cruz expedition, Scott's, 156 

Verdict, 384 

Vermont, 203 

Veteran Company at Santa Fe, 92, 121 

Veto, of Territorial governor, 185; in 
State, 348, 359 

Vial, Pierre, opens trail to San 
Antonio, (103); route to Natchi- 
toches, 704; 1£8, 139 

Vicente, (52) 

Viceroy, 121 

Victorio, Apache chief, 215 

Vigil, Donaciano, governor, 176, 
163, 250 

Vigil, Gregorio, (140) 

Vigil, Juan Bautista, 161 

Villa Francisco, (294), 295, 297 

Villages, schools, 394; government of, 
413-414 

Villasur, Pedro, expedition to Platte 
River, (95) 

Villista raids, (296) 

Virginia, 133 

Virgin River, 131 

Vocational education, 265, 395 

Voters, qualifications of, 331-332, 334 

Wahsatch Mountains, 131 

Wagon Mound, 128, 129, 159 

Wagons, first used in Santa Fe trade, 
124 

War, Mexican, 152-168, 177; Spanish- 
American, 279-281; with Germany, 
298-306 

Warfield, Colonel, raid on Mora, 142 

Washington, D. C, 165 

Washington, John M., governor, 176 



Washington State, 278 
Wallace, Lew, governor, 219 
Weather bureau, 370 
Weightman, Richard H., 182, 187 
Welfare board, girls', 425 
Welfare home, girls', 425 
Wells-Butterfield interests, 200 
Wells, Fargo and Company, chartered, 

200 
Westerners, 114, 129, 152; influence of, 

135, 152; attitude of, 153; spirit of, 

155 
Western influence, opposition to, 276, 

277, 282, 283, 284, 285 
West Indies, discovered by Columbus, 

12, 13 
Wheaton, Theodore D., 187 
Whipping as punishment, 210 
White Mountains, 2, 238 ■ 
Wichita Falls, Vial at, 103 
Wilson Dam, 246 
Wilson, Woodrow, 298 
Witchcraft, 78, 89 
Wolfskill, William, 131 
Woman, first in New Mexico, 43 
Woman suffrage, 334 
Women, build pueblos, 5; education 

of, 250 
Wood, Leonard, 279 
Wool, John E., 156, 166, 168 
Writ of assistance, explained, 319 
Wyoming, 106, 278 
Xavier, (123) 
Yates, 141 
Young, Ewing, 131 
Y. M. C. A. drives, 305, 306 
Zacatecas, (36), 49 
Zaldivar, Juan de, murdered at 

Acoma, 56 
Zaldivar, Vicente de, (52); goes to 

astern plains, 55; captures Acoma, 

57; 59; brings back deserters, 60 
Zufii, (9); discovered by Stephen and 

Niza, 20; Coronado at, 22, 23, 24, 32 

called "Granada" by Coronado, 23 

Rodriguez at, 38; Espejo at, 41, 42 

Onate at, 55; 56, 71; Vargas at, 85 

Escalante at, 101 
Zufii Mountains, 238 




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